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MEDINA, OHIO 

A. I. ROOT. 



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MRS. W. M. BRODIt 

DEC. 19, 1938 



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PREFACE. 



In preparing this work I have been much indebted to the books of Langstroth, Quinby, 
Prof. Cook, King, and some others, as well as to all the Bee- Journals ; but, more than to all 
these, have I been indebted to the thousands of friends scattered far and wide, who have 
so kindly furnished the fullest particulars in regard to all the new improvements, as they 
have come up, in our beloved branch of rural industry. Those who questioned me so much, 
a few years ago are now repaying by giving me such long kind letters in answer to any 
inquiry I may happen to make, that I often feel ashamed to think what meager answers I 
have been obliged to give them under similar circumstances. A great part of this ABC 
book is really the work of the people, and the task that devolves on me is to collect, con- 
dense, verify, and utilize, what has been scattered through thousands of letters, for years 
past. My own apiary has been greatly devoted to carefully testing each new device, in- 
vention, or process, as it came up ; the task has been a very pleasant one ; and if the perusal 
of the following pages affords you as much pleasure, I shall feel amply repaid. 

A. I. BOOT. 
Medina, Ohio, Nov., 1877. 



INTRODUCTION. 



About the year 1865, during the month of August, a swaim of bees passed overhead 
where we were at work; and my fellow-workman, in answer to some of my inquiries re- 
specting their habits, asked what I would give for them. I, not dreaming he could by any 
means call them down, offered him a dollar, and he started after them. - To my astonish- 
ment, he, in a short time, returned with them hived in a rough box he had hastily picked 
up, and, at that moment, I commenced learning my ABC in bee culture. Before night I 
had questioned not only the bees, but every one I knew, who could tell me any thing about 
these strange new acquaintances of mine. Our books and papers were overhauled that 
evening; but the little that I found only puzzled me the more, and kindled anew the de- 
sire to explore and follow out this new hobby of mine ; for, dear reader, I .have been all 
my life much given to hobbies and new projects. 

Farmers who had kept bees assured me that they once paid, when the country was new, 
but of late years they were of no profit, and everybody w r as abandoning the business. I 
had some headstrong views in the matter, and in a few days I visited Cleveland, ostensibly 
on other business, but I had really little interest in any thing until I could visit the book- 
stores and look over the books on bees. I found but two, and I very quickly chose Lang- 
stroth. May God reward and for ever bless Mr. Laugstroth for the kind and pleasant way 
in which he imfolds to his readers the truths and wonders of creation, to be found inside 
of a bee-hive. 

What a gold-mine that book seemed to me, as I looked it over on my journey home ! 
never was romance so enticing ; no, not even Kobinson Crusoe ; and, best of all, right at 
my own home I could live out and verify all the wonderful things told therein. Late as it 
was, I yet made an observatory-hive, and raised queens from worker-eggs before winter, 
and wound up by purchasing a queen of Mr. L. for $20.00. I should, in fact, have wound 
up the whole business, queen and all, most effectually, had it not been for some timely 
advice toward Christmas, from a plain practical farmer near by. With his assistance, and 
by the purchase of some more bees, I brought all safely through the winter. Through Mr. 
L., I learned of Mr. Wagner ; shortly afterward he was induced to re-commence the pub- 
lication of the American Bee Journal; and through this I gave accounts monthly of my 
blunders and occasional successes. 

Like many others, I could not be content without dabbling in patent hives; and, in spite 
of good advice to the contrary, as soon as I was fairly started I bought rights and thence- 
forth kept the most of my bees in American hives. After a trial of both kinds, the Amer- 
ican and Laugstroth, side by side, for 5 years, the combs were transferred from the Amer- 
ican back to the L. frames. In 1867, news came across the ocean from Germany, of the 
honey-extractor: and with the aid of a simple home-made machine I took 1000 lbs. of honey 
from 20 stocks, and increased them to 35. This made quite a sensation, and numbers em- 
barked in the new business; but when I lost all but 11 of the 35 the next winter, many 
said, " There ! I told you how it would turn out."* 

I said nothing, but went to work quietly, and increased the 11 to 48, during the one sea- 
son, not using the extractor at all. The 48 were wintered entirely without loss, and I 
think it was, mainly, because I took care and pains with each individual colony. From the 
48, I secured 6162 lbs. of extracted honey, and sold almost the entire crop for 25c. per lb. 
This capped the climax, and inquiries in regard to the new industry began to come in from 



INTRODUCTION. 

all sides ; beginners were eager to know what hives to adopt, and where to get honey- 
extractors. As the hives* in use seemed very poorly adapted to the use of the extractor, 
and as the machines offered for sale were heavy and poorly adapted to the purpose, be 
sides being " patented," there really seemed to be no other way before me than to manufac- 
ture these implements. Unless I did this, I should be compelled to undertake a correspond- 
ence that would occupy a great part of my time, without affording any compensation of 
any account. The fullest directions I knew how to give for making plain simple hives, 
etc., were from time to time published in the A. B. J.; but the demand for further partic- 
ulars was such that a circular was printed, and, shortly after, a second edition; then anoth- 
er, and another. These were intended to answer the greater part of the queries; and from 
the cheering words received in regard to them, it seemed the idea was a happy one. 

Until 1873, all these circulars were sent out gratuitously ; but at that time it was deemed 
best to issue a quarterly at 25c per year, for the purpose of answering these inquiries. 
The very first number was received with such favor that it was immediately changed to a 
monthly, at 75 c. The name given it was " Gleanings in Bee Culture," and it was 
gradually enlarged until, in 1876, the price was changed to $ 1.00. During all this time, it 
has served the purpose excellently, of answering questions as they come up, both old and 
new ; and even if some new subscriber should ask in regard to something that had been 
discussed at length but a short time before, it was an easy matter to refer him to it, or send 
him the number containing the subject in question. 

Gleanings is now about commencing its eighth year, and inquirers do not like to be 
referred to something that was published a half - dozen years ago. Besides, the deci- 
sions that were then arrived at may need to be considerably modified to meet the wants 
of the present time. Now, if we go over the whole matter again every year or two, for the 
benefit of those who have recently subscribed, we shall do our regular subscribers injust- 
ice, for they will justly complain that Gleanings is the same thing over and over again, 
year after year. 

The best time to transfer bees is in the spring ; and every spring, we have been besieged 
with so many inquiries that we, last spring, to avoid repetition, published the whole pro- 
cess at length in our circular ; and we have since then given away 10,000 of these, paying 
postage ourselves. I know those who received them felt grateful for the kindness, for 
many of them said so; and I know, too, that they would have willingly paid us for them, 
were it not for the trouble it would have been for each separate person to have remitted 
us three or five cents. 

Now you can see whence the necessity for this ABC book, its office, and the place we 
purpose to have it fill. In writing it I have taken pains to thoroughly post myself in re- 
gard to each subject treated, not only by consulting all the books and journals treating of 
bee culture, which I have always ready at hand, but by going out into the fields, writing to 
those who can furnish information in that special direction, or by sacrificing a colony of 
bees, if need be, until I am perfectly satisfied. Still further : this book is all printed from 
type kept constantly standing, and as the sheets are printed only so fast as wanted, any 
thing that is discovered, at any future time, to be an error, can be promptly righted. For 
the same reason, all new inventions and discoveries that may come up — they are coming 
up constantly — can be embodied in the work just as soon as they have been tested suffi- 
ciently to entitle them to a place in such a work. In other words, I purpose it to be never 
out of date or behind the times. Begging your pardon for this lengthy introduction, we 
will, with your sanction, proceed to business. Nov., 1877. 



Nearly two years have passed since the above was written. It is now July, 1879. The 
business has increased and developed so much that we are now located on a piece of 
ground of 17 acres, and the pictures in the front give you a little idea of our building and 
surroundings. The apiaries, of which you get a little glimpse, cover about 21 acres ; there 
are seven of them, like the hexagonal apiary shown in the back of this book. The central 
one has a flag in the center of it, on which are the words, "By Industry we Thrive." The 
whole seven apiaries will accommodate 500 hives. We have, at this writing, 228 hives, 
mostly employed in queen-rearing. Three or four boys and girls are constantly employed 
in rearing and shipping the queens. More are employed in making the hives and imple- 
ments, and still more are at work on the journal, making this book, etc., etc. In fact, 



INTRODUCTION. 

there are now between 70 and 80 of us, all together. Almost every trade and industry is 
represented in the building and on the grounds. We make all kinds of wood-work, have 
a tin -shop, carpenter -shop, blacksmith -shop, machine shop, printing-office, book-bind- 
ery, sewing-room, paint-shop, varnishing and japanning room, wax- room where the founda- 
tion is made, a room where leather is worked considerably in making smokers, and we 
have almost every thing except a grog-shop. There used to be two of those a year ago, 
just across the railroad, but both have closed up business now. I rather suspect the at- 
mosphere we have brought into this part of the town was more than they could stand. If 
you should happen along here about noon, you would find that the engineer always stops 
the engine promptly at 10 minutes of noon, and that the hands then gather in the largest 
room in the building around an organ that they have purchased with their own money. 
In fact, it was purchased by each one giving a day's work. After all join in singing a 
hymn, your humble servant is expected to read a verse or two from the Bible, and close 
the 10 minutes devotional exercise with a few brief remarks and prayer. I am often asked 
by visitors if this noon-day service was an idea of mine. I reply that it was as unexpected 
to me as to any one else. It would be a long story, to tell how it originated. God brought 
it about, I am firmly persuaded. Do you wonder saloons do not prosper near us? Right 
over the open window at which I sit writing, is a stone bee-hive which you can see in the 
picture. Over the hive is this inscription: "In God we Trust." So long as we continue to 
trust in him, and look to him daily for help, the business will continue to prosper, and 
we shall be of use to ourselves, and to all those about us ; but just so soon as we cease to 
trust in him, the business will go down ; saloons will spring up about us ; and ruin and 
devastation will be the end. There are quite a number of us who know what it is to be 
frequenters of saloons, and who realize that it is by the grace of God we are kept where 
we are now. " It is not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of 
hosts." 

[OCTOBER, 1879.1 

Tlie following, descriptive of the picture of our apiary a few leaves back, is extracted f,om the November 
Gleanings: 

THE HOME OF THE HONEY-BEES.— AN APIARY OF 500 niVES. 



Isn't it pretty? Had you worked and planned and studied over it as we have, dear 
reader, you might perhaps appreciate it in a different way from what you do ; but I am 
pretty sure you admire it, any way. You observe there are 6 apiaries surrounding a central 
one, making 7 in all. There are 61 hives in each apiary, and the small apiaries of 7 hives 
each, in the corners, make the number nearly 500. The hives in each apiary are exactly 7 
feet from center to center, and the streets are 24 feet broad. The gravel walks in the cen- 
ter of each street are 4 feet wide. The hives face different points of the compass, as ex- 
plained in the back of this book. Coal cinders are placed around each hive to keep the 
weeds down, and then the space before and around the entrance is covered with clean, 
white sand. This is not only to give the bees a clean and pleasant door-yard, but it is to 
enable us, in passing, to see if all is right. For instance, if robbing has been going on, you 
will see the dead bees on the white sand, even if you are quite a distance away. Day be- 
fore yesterday, in passing, I saw a young queen on the sand near the entrance of a hive, 
and out near the grass was another one. 

" Hallo, Will," said I, " what does this mean V" 

"Oh! I forgot to cut out those queen-cells," said he; and he opened the hive " quicker," 
and found nine good cells, and two torn down. You see, the white sand saved me 9 queen- 
cells, that one time. 

The grass is all kept in nice trim with the lawn-mower, and the labor is very much less, 
for so large an apiary, than to keep the ground clean with a hoe, as I have formerly recom- 
mended. It is now the middle of October; but the grass, in consequence of the frequent 
mowings, is as fresh and green as in June. To add to the beauty of it, dandelions have 
sprung up, and their bright yellow blossoms dotting the green here and there make a pret- 
tier picture than I can describe, especially as one or more Italians are found on every 
blossom, on pleasant days. 

On the outside of the row of evergreens, which are planted for a windbreak, is a car- 
riage-drive, and this drive extends off to the south, down by the pond, and through my 
creek-bottom garden. We planted 100 evergreens ; only five of them died, and the nursery- 
man says he will replace those. Of 500 grapevines, planted la^t fall, I believe only about 7 



INTRODUCTION. 

died. The building with the wings is the honey house, as we call it. There we store all 
the tools and implements, all the empty hives, the sugar for feeding, etc. We are talking 
of a railroad to run through the apiary into this house, but the light wheelbarrow seems 
to answer so well, we may not build it. 

You will notice that the house-apiary has changed so much that one would hardly recog- 
nize an old acquaintance. To Mr. Gray is the credit due for having made it so pretty, and 
so convenient for the bees, which we are just putting in the upper story. The old wooden 
roof used to leak some, and so we have put on a tin one. Leaking is a very bad feature for 
any roof, for hive or building. Tin, if kept painted, makes a sure thing of it. The chaff 
tenement-hive looks as large as life, or a little larger, and perhaps ll twice as natural." 
You will observe, in the center of each apiary, or near the center, four chaff hives. These 
are to assist in giving landmarks, both to the bees and the apiarist. Just now we are giv- 
ing chaff hives to all that we decide to winter. The apiary is not full of hives, as repre- 
sented in the cut, but we number, house-apiary and all, just 314. About two hundred will 
probably be preserved for wintering. The remainder we shall keep for those who want a 
queen very late ; and, after the queen is sold, they will be united with the others. The 
grapevines, this season (the first), have been trained on a single stake, but they have made 
such a healthy growth, especially those which have been mowed around with the lawn- 
mower, tint we shall have to get out 500 trellises, ready for next June. 

I wanted the artist to get the inscription on the flag, but the letters would have been so 
small you probably could not have read it. Instead of a dozen or more rows of mam- 
moth sunflowers, he has made only one, and these resemble some tropical plant more than 
those out in the field. The masses of foliage this side of the sunflowers represent the bor- 
age. It is yet in full bloom, and fairly covered with bees from morning till night, but 
nothing like the Simpson honey-plant and the Spider -flowers. The Spider- flowers are 
growing right down at the right-hand corner; the Simpson-plant, at the upper right-hand 
corner of the honey-farm. The highway, where the man is riding along on horseback, 
runs east and west. I wish I could take you down by the pond and show you my creek- 
bottom garden ; perhaps I will some day. I was at work in it this morning with my hoe, 
so early that I had to work by the light of the stars. I knelt in the soft rich ground (where 
the cultivator had been running the night before among the plants) and thanked God for 
this honey-farm, and the opportunities it gives me of helping you all. 

Sept. 2, 1880.— We have had another year's experience with honey-plants, and the result 
is such that I have decided to plant the whole of the available ground to Simpson and Spi- 
der plants. I have just been enjoying the dull season amazingly in underdraining our creek- 
bottom garden, and setting out Simpson-plants. From seed planted in a cold frame in 
March, we now have beautiful plants humming with bees from daybreak until dark. A 
little less than one-fourth acre of Spider-plants makes the most beautiful floral sight I ever 
beheld, and creates such a panic among the bees at dawn that you would think them rob- 
bing. The honey from them is very white, and beautiful in flavor. 

June, 1882.— A kind Providence has still continued to prosper us, dear friends, and 
we have just issued the third number of Juvenile Gleanings, supplementing the 
older Gleanings. Our building is now so crowded on every floor, that a new factory 
is in contemplation, and about one hundred hands are at work in the building and on 
the grounds. The children seem to have taken to the little bee-journal as ducks take 
to water, and the number of their little letters now is greater than we can possibly 
find room for. 

Jan., 1883.— During the season that is past, some of the largest crops of honey have been 
harvested ever known, and the progeny of a single queen has gathered pretty well toward 
the enormous quantity of 1000 lbs. of honey. The industry has in several directions begun 
to assume massive proportions. The demand for one-pound section boxes has been so 
great that single shipments have gone across the ocean, of nearly 100,000. Wax for comb 
foundation is getting scarce, and we begin to fear the product of the world will not supply 
the demand. A kind Father seems still smiling on us at the Home of the IIoney-Bees. 

Sept., 1883. — Our new factory is now nearly ready for occupation. During the summer 
we have employed between 140 and 150 hands. Two shorthand writers now take down 
what your humble servant dictates in regard to business and the matter for the journal, 
and each one is supplied with one of the latest improved type- writers, for copying the short- 
hand notes. The new factory is built on to the old one, on the right-hand side of the pic- 



IN TROD CTCTION. 



/ 



ture, so as to form a sort of wing, or L (see frontispiece), and extends from the old factory 
to the gate, seen in the margin of the picture. The trade in implements for bee culture has 
been larger than ever before known, and the production of honey has been correspondingly 
increased. 

April, 1884.— Again we are called upon for another edition of our A B C. Since its first 
issue we have tried to keep it fully up to the times by constant additions and alterations. 
During this time, over 15,000 copies have been sold in this and other countries, and the de- 
mand is still unabated. The subscription list of Gleanings has swelled, until at the close 
of last year we had 6388 subscribers. Our general business has also increased since last 
year, so that, even with the new addition to our factory (a cut of which we take pleasure in 
showing you in frontispiece), we are crowded for room. We are glad to note the continued 
improvement and increase in apiculture during the year past, throughout our country, es- 
pecially in Texas, and also throughout the world; and with this advance in our science we 
have been pleased to see a correspondingly increased demand for honey. 

It may be well to add, that in the preparation of this work I have been greatly indebted 
to the valuable services of my friend Walter B. House, of Saugatuck, Mich. The Glossary 
and Index are wholly his work. He has also added many important suggestions in various 
parts of the body of the book. The valuable item in regard to raising turnips for honey, and 
turning them under as .a soiling crop, was given by him. The article on Honey-Houses 
was suggested and written by himself, I supposing that, of course, he would know about 
all kinds of houses. 

One of -the lady clerks in our office, who has been helping us in the business almost from 
its infancy, has written the following lines, suggesting the growth of what was, not long 
ago, but a grain of mustard seed. It was written to be read at the dedication of our new 
factory, mentioned above. 



When Novice first began to tell 

Some facts about the bee, 
The story pleased the folks so well, 
" I'll edit it," said he. 
The Gleanings of ten years ago 

Was small; and placed beside 
The Gleanings of to-day, doth show 

How great has been its stride. 
Though " Barney " was a novice then, 

And " Boss " was typo too, 
And wrote his copy with a pen, 

Still Gleanings lived and grew. 
And when the windmill ruled the day, 

And sometimes rather failed, 
The foot-press often came in play, 

That Gleanings might be mailed. 
All hands were called to come and fold 

When Gleanings went to press; 
And paper day, in times of old, 

Was one of pasty mess. 
When the type-writer's click was heard, 

The pen was put in l-ack; 
The windmill flew off like a bird, 

An engine took the track. 
Subscriptions came and brought good will, 

And business multiplied; 
Our Homes made Gleanings stronger still: 
' T was on the Savior's side. 
And we have garnered golden sheaves, 

Which steady grew in store, 
Which, in the A B C book, make 

Us rich in bee-man's lore. 
The busy little engine steamed, 

And puffed both night and day; 
For orders, more than we had dreamed, 

Poured in from far away. 
Two busy years went flitting by, 

And found our space too small; 
So then we built a factory 

We thought would hold us all. 



While our new engine, stately, strong, 

Its shaft of belting moved. 
Which made the buzz-saws hum their song- 
While cutting out their grooves. 
While from our large new printing-press, 

Which filled so well its place, 
Came Gleanings forth in its new dress,— 
' Twas worn with smiling face. 
Her " Heads of Grain " were full indeed; 

Her " Blasted Hopes " were small; 
Because success would write with speed; 

But failure, scarce at all. 
The boys and girls wrote letters too, 

To say that "Pa keeps bees;" 
Until a barrowful they grew, 

And yet they did not cease. 
So Juvenile came on behind, 

To carry them along, 
Impelled by aid of Hasty mind, 

It soon grew large and strong. 
But, oh ! the factory is too small— 

With joy we build again; 
We now behold the rising wall, 

Built up by busy men. 
And then the cheerful buzz of biz 

Will fill the new wing too. 
And Novice's contented phiz 

A broader field will view. 
And at the sacred hour of noon, 

Ten golden minutes spend. 
Where swells the organ's sweetly tune, 

While prayer and praise ascend. 
May Gleanings have, and Juvenile, 

A fat subscription list ! 
Be full of blessings all the while, 

The helpless to assist. 
When Novice has grown old and gray. 

Serving the Master here, 
Oh may he hear the Savior say, 

I'm with thee — never fear! 



CONTENTS. 



introduction ;:...:.;:. .,; 

Absconding Swarms 

For Want of Food 

In Early Spring- 

Nucleus Swarms 

After Swarming 

Age of Bees 

Drones 

Queens 

Alighting Boards 

Detachable 

How to Saw the Entrance Blocks 

Alsike Clover 

Cultivation and Sowing the Seed 

Saving the Hay 

" " Seed 

Profit of the Crop 

Anger of Bees 

Ants 

Apiarist 

Apiary 

Location 

Wind Breaks 

Vineyard Apiary 

Lawn or Chaff Hive Apiary 

The House Apiary 

Floating Apiary 

Railway Apiary 

Which Style of Apiary to Adopt 

Moving to catch basswood bloom 

Aphides 

Artificial Comb 

Artificial Fertilization 

Artificial Heat 

Artificial Pasturage 

Artificial Swarming 

Combs of Hatching Brood 

Empty Combs for Artificial Swarming. 



Barrels 

Leaky Barrels 

Waxing to Prevent Leaking. 



Bee-Dress 

Bee-Hunting 

Box for Bee-H unting 

How to Use the Hunting Box 

Climbers for Bee-Hunters 

Does Bee-Hunting Pay? 

Never Quarrel About Bee Trees 

Bee-Moth 

How to Keep Empty Combs Secure from 

the Moth Worms 

Bees 



How Bees Grow 39 

From the Egg to the Bee 40 

Bees on Shares 41 

Blue Thistle 42 

Borage 42 

Buckwheat 42 

Cultivation • 42 

Buying Bees 43 

Cages for Shipping Bees 44 

Selling Bees by the lb 44 

Cages for Queens 47 

Candied Honey 49 

How to Prevent from Candying 49 

Confectionery 49 

Candy for Bees 50 

What Kind of Sugar to Use for Making candy M 

How to Make 51 

Caution in Regard to Candy-Making 51 



Catnip .:;...;. 51 

Cider and Cider-Mills 51 

Clover 52 

Comb-Basket 52 

Comb Foundation 53 

Foundation Machine 53 

How to Make Wax Sheets 53 

Rolling the Wax Sheets 54 

Trimming. Squaring, and Cutting the Sheets. 55 

lor Comb Honey 55 

Carlin's Foundation Cutter Efi 

Sagging of the Foundation 50 

Given Foundation-Press 57 

Fastening Starters in Section Boxes 57 

Comb Honey 58 

How to Remove the Filled Sections 58 

Always Use the Tin Separators 59 

< lustering on the Outside of Hives CO 

Getting Bees out of Boxes or off from 60 

Marketing Comb Honey 61 

Keep Clean and Free from Stickiness C2 

Making Honey Sell 63 

Pasteboard Boxes for 1-lb. Sections 63 

Keeping Comb Honey 64 

Dandelion 67 

Diseases of Bees 67 

Spring Dwindling 67 

Other Diseases 69 

Dividing 69 

Division Boards 69 

Chaff Cushion for 70 

Drones 70 

The Jones Entrance-Guard 73 

Retaining Undes ; rable Drones 73 

Rearing Out of Season 74 

Destruction of Drones in Fall 75 

With Brilliantly Colored Heads of Different 

Colors 75 

Dysentery 75 

Cause 76 

Prevention 76 

Cure 77 

Agency of Aphides in Producing 77 

Enemies of Bees 81 

Mice 81 

Parasites 81 

Skunks 81 

Spiders 81 

Wasps S2 

Thieves and Patent-Right Venders 82 

Entrances to Hives 82 

Size of 83 

Extracted Honey 84 

How to Sell 86 

How to Keep 87 

Various Packages for Shipping and Selling.. . 87 

A Few New Packages 88 

Honey-Tumblers 88 

Williams' Stand for Selling 89 

Iron Jacket Shipping-Can 89 

Honey-Knives 89 

Bingham & Hetherington Honey-Knife 90 

Uncapping-Cans — 90 

Brushes for Getting Bees off the Comb 90 

Yucca Brush 90 

Cook's Bee-Brush 90 

Davis' Improved Bee-Brush 91 

Extractor 91 

• How to Make 91 

Making the Can 93 

Extracting from Uroken Pieces of Comb or 

from Section Boxes 94 

Extractor for Pieces of Comb 94 



C OKTE N T S 



Fairs 97 

Feeding and Feeders VI 

What to Feed 97 

How to Feed 98 

How to Make the Syrup 99 

Feeding Fast or Slowly 99 

When to Feed r 99 

Simplicity Feeder 100 

Gray's Improvement on the Simplicity 100 

Feeding to Produce Comb Honey 101 

Liability of Ext. Honey to Candy in the Cells 

when Fed Back to the Bees 101 

Caution in Regard to Feeding 102 

Hains' Feeder tor a Fruit Jar 1( 2 

The Hains Feeder; How to Make It 102 

Fertile Workers 102 

Cause .- 102 

How to Get Rid of 103 

How to Detect the Presence of 103 

Figwort 103 

Simpson's Honey Plant 104 

How Bees Make Honey 104 

Foul Brood 105 

Remedies 106 

Cause 106 

Fruit-Blossoms 107 

Do Bees Injure the Fruit by Taking Honey 

from the Blossoms? 107 

Gill-over-the-ground 110 

Golden Rod 110 

Hive-Making 113 

How to Make a Simplicity Hive 113 

Gauge for Planing Lumber Ill 

Improperly and Properly Filed Saws 1 15 

Setting the Parallel Bar 115 

Whv Boards Warp 1 15 

Beveling Platform 110 

Iron Gauge Frames for Hive-Making 116 

How to Set the Cross-Cut Bar 117 

Taking off the Strip Under the Cover 118 

How to Make the Covers 119 

Nailing Hives 119 

Simplicity Langstroth Hive 120 

Covers to Hives 120 

The Story and a Half Hive 120 

Combined Shipping Case and Honey Crate 121 

How to Make the Chaff Hive 121 

Platform for giving the Siding the proper 

bevel 121 

How to Cut the Stuff for Siding 121 

" " Make the Corner Posts 122 

Inside of Chaff Hive 123 

One of the Sides of the inside of the Chaff 

Hive 123 

Diagram of the Chaff Hive 1.'3 

Frames that hold the Cover 123 

Roof-board to Chaff Hive 121 

Covers to the Chaff Hive ready for the Tin 



Gable End to Chaff-hive Cover ...125 

How to make Gable ends 125 

One-story Chaff Hive 125 

Gauge for Frame Making 120 

Frames for Hives 120 

How Many Frames in a Hive 127 

What to Cover Frames With 128 

How to Use the Broad Frames of Section 

Boxes 128 

Mat for Covering Frames 12« 

Painting the Hives 129 

How to test a Square 12.1 

How to wedge up the Frame of Sections 121 

Concluding Remarks About Hives 129 

Making Hives by Hand 130 

Section Honey Boxes 130 

All About Making Them, and Some 

Other Matters 130 

Cigar-box Planer 131 

Eighteen-inch Gem Planer 131 

Clamp for Making Section Boxes 131 

Bundle of Strips far Sections 132 

Bundle of pieces for Section Boxes, as they 

leave the Saws 132 

One-pound Section Box Complete 132 

Wide Frames to hold 8 Sections, and tin 

Separators 1S2 

Cutter-Head for Grooving Section boxes 133 

Putting ( 'ircular Saws in Order 133 

How Saws are wasted by imbroper filing 135 

The Philosophy of Setting a Saw 135 

Speed of Circular Saws 130 

Home-Made Section Boxes 137 

Gray's New Section Box and Machine 

for Making it 137 

How to Fold the Sections up 138 



Gray's Improved Machine for making Sec- 
Sections 139 

Observatory Hives 139 

Glass Observatory Hive 139 

Tables for Circular Saws driven by power 

for Hive Making HO 

Parallel Bar- gauge Ill 

How to make a Cut off Saw-table 141 

A saw table for cutting off stuff 142 

HoneyComb 143 

Why the Cells are Made Six-Sided 141 

How the bottom of the cell is made 144 

Mai hematics of the Honey Comb 144 

Different Kinds of Cells 146 

How the Bees Build ihe Comb 147 

Honey Dew 149 

Honey-house 150 

Horsemint 152 

Hybrids 152 

Introducing Queens 155 

How to Find and Remove the Old Queen 155 

How to Release the Queen 156 

AVhat to Do with the Escort Bees 156 

What to Do, if the Queen Flies Away 157 

How soon should an Introduced Queen Be- 
gin to Lay 157 

Italian Bees 157 

Holy-land and Cyprian bees 160 

Italianizing 162 

King Birds 165 

Lamp Nursery 167 

How to Get Cells for the Nursery 167 

How to Avoid Having any Worker Bees in 

the Nursery 1C8 

Introducing Virgin Queens 168 

Locust 170 

Mignonnette 171 

Milkweed 171 

Motherwort Ill 

Moving Bees 172 

Mustard 174 

Nucleus 177 

Clark's rustic chaff hive 179 

Three framed neuclus hive 179 

Poisonous Honey 182 

Pollen 182 

Necessity of Pollen for Brood Rearing 184 

Artificial Substitutes for Pollen 185 

Agency of Bees in Fertilizing Plants by 

Mingling the Pollen 186 

flowers of the wild Touch-me-not, showing 
the way the Bees get the pollen on their 

Backs 188 

How to start Bees at work on rye meal 189 

Pollen in Section Boxes and Comb Honey 189 

Portico for Hives 191 

Propolis 191 

How to Keep from Surplus Honey 192 

How to Remove from Fingers 192 

Do the Bees Need Propolis 193 

Removing Wax and Propolis by Steam 193 

Value of Propolis 193 

Queens 195 

1 in pei feet ly Developed 185 

How a Worker Egg is Made to Produce a 

Queen 195 

Royal Jelly 1!'6 

What Does the Queen do While Sealed Up?. ..197 

Davis' Transposition Process 197 

What Becomes of the Queen after She Gets 

Out of the Cell? 198 

Queens' Voices 199 

Virgin Queens 199 

Age at Which Virgin Queens Take Their 

Wedding Flight 201 

How old a Queen May be and still Become 

Feitilized 202 

l>ron< -Laying Queens 202 

The Meeting Between the Queen and Drone.. 203 

Shall We Clip the Oueens' Wings? 204 

Clipping Queens' Wings 204 

How Queens Lay Two Kinds of Eggs 205 

Loss of Queen 207 

Odor of a Laying Queen 207 

Queens' Stings 208 

Caution in Regard to Deciding a Stock to 

be Queenless 208 

Caution About Clipping Queens' Wings 208 

Queen Rearing. ...... 208 

How to get Good Queen Cells 209 

When to Cut Out the Queen Cells 210 

- HOW to .." . " " " 210 

How to Insert a Queen Cell 211 

Caution.... :.'I2 

How to raise queens for market 212 



CONTENTS 



How to cage the Bees and Queen 213 

Rape 215 

Raspberry 215 

Ratan 215 

Robbing 215 

Colonies that Will Make no Defense 213 

How to Know Kobber Bees *1S 

How to Tell Where the Robbers Belong 218 

How to Stop Robbers 218 

What Happens if Robbing is not Stopped 220 

Prevention of Robbing 221 

A Great Discovery 222 

How to Circumvent Robbers, and Keep Kight 

On Transferring-, Raising Queens, &c 223 

A Folding- Tent for transferring, etc 223 

Wire-Cloth House for Transferring, &c 223 

Rocky Mountain Bee Plant 221 

Sage 227 

Smokers 228 

Corn-popper Smoker 229 

Townley's Smoker 229 

Fuel for Smokers 229 

How to Make a Cold Blast Smoker 230 

Cold-Blast Smoker 2-30 

Bellows Smokers 230 

Spring for Opening the Bellows 231 

How to make the Tin Case for fuel 231 

The Tinwork used for Cold Blast Smokers . .231 

Clark's Cold-Blast Smoker 232 

Soldering 233 

Soldering Iron and Implements . . .231 

Sourwood 235 

Spider Flower 23 

How Much Honey Will an Acre of Plants 

Yield? 238 

Stings 239 

To Remove 239 

Remedies 240 

What to Do When Stung a Great Number 

of Times, all at Once 242 

Getting Hardened to the Effects of Bee Stings. 241 

How to Avoid Being Stung 241 

How to Open a Hive Without Being Stung. . . .242 

Our Simplicity Comb Holder 243 

Valentine's Queen Stand 243 

An Easel to Hold Combs 243 

Simplicity Comb Holder 244 

What Kind of Bees Sting Worst 214 

The Bee-Sting Poison 245 

How it is Done 245 

Odor of the Bee-Sting Poison 245 

Does the Bee Die After Losing His Sting? 246 

The poison cf the Bee-sting as a remedial 

agent 246 I 

Smoke not Always a Preventive of Bee Stings.-246 ! 
Mechanical Construction and Operation of 

the Sting 246 

Bee-sting Magnified 247 j 

Sumac 248 

Sunflower 249 j 

Swarming... 249 | 

Why Bees Swarm 250 

At What Season bees Usually Swarm 250 

Symptoms of Swarming 250 

Is ever Allow the Bees to Hang Outside the 

Hive 251 

Preparations for Swarming to be Made by 

the Bee-Keeper 251 

Repository for Swarming Implements 252 

How to Hive a Swarm of Bees 253 

How to Hive a Swarm with Clipped Queen 253 

Hiving Bees by Machinery 254 

Two or More Swarms Coming Out and 

Uniting 255 

Prevention of Swarming 255 

Restraining the Queen by means of Per- 
forated Metal over the Entrances 256 

Prevention of Swarming by Use of Extractor. 257 
Keeping Bees in Upper Rooms and Garrets . .257 
Do Bees Choose a Location Before Swarming? .257 



Decoy Hiv< 



Automatic Swarming 258 

Ringing Bells and Beating Pans to Bring 

Down a Swarm of Bees 259 

Natural Swarming and its Attendant Clus- 
tering 263 

Teasel ■ 264 

Toads 265 

Transferring 265 

When to Transfer 236 

Appliances for Fastening in the Combs . . . .267 
Transferring Clasps, Wires and Sticks, and 

the manner of using them 267 

How Much of the Combs in the Old Hives 

Should be Saved 267 

Frame covered with Mcsquito-bar, to set 

over a hive when robbers are troublesome238 
Transferring when the Bees are disposed 

to Rob 268 

Transferring in Doors 268 

A short way of transferring from box-hives 269 

Turnip 269 

Uniting Bees ' 271 

What to Do with the Queens 271 

Uniting New Swarms 272 

Uniting bees in the Spring 272 

Veils 274 

Ventilation 275 

Smothering Bees by Closing the Entrance — 276 

How the Bees do Their Own Ventilating 276 

Ventilating Queen Cages During Shipment.. .277 

Vinegar 277 

Water for bees 279 

Improvement on the Above 280 

Fountain for Giving Bees Access to Water. . .282 

Salt Water for Bees 283 

Wax 283 

Wax Extractor 284 

Our Own Way of Rendering Wax 286 

Cleaning Wax From Utensils 237 

Adulteration of Wax 290 

How I learned Chaff Packing 290 

Whitewood 290 

Wintering 292 

When to Commence Preparing the Bees 

for Winter 232 

Ventilation and its Relation to Frost and 

Dampness 293 

How Bee Hives Become Damp 293 

Straw Hives 294 

How to cover the Bees in winter 294 

Best kind of Chaff 295 

Fixing the Cushions over the Bees for winter 235 

Chaff Cushions and How to Make Them 295 

Hill's Device 294 

Wintering in Cellars or Special Repositories. .303 
Advantages of a Cellar over a Room above 

Ground 303 

How to Get Rid of Dampness and Secure 

Perfect Ventilation in Cellars 331 

Preparing Stocks for Their Winter Quarters.. 301 

Time of Putting the Bees into the Cellar 302 

Shall Bees be Confined to Their Hives 

When Put In-doors 302 

Best Temperature for a Cellar or Bee House. 302 

Removing the Bees from the Cellar 302 

Advantages of Cellar Wintering 303 

Number of Colonies to be Put into One 

Room 303 

Summing up the Matter of Wintering 303 

One more hint in regard to wintering 303 

Spring Dwindling 303 

Its Cure 3( 5 

What to Do When your Bees get Spring 

Dwindling 305 

What to Do with Combs from Hives where 

the Bees Have Died 306 

What to Do with Combs That are Soiled, 

Moldv, and Filled with Dead Bees 3C6 

The losses during the winter of 1880 and 1881 ..307 



258 Appendix t>y G. M. Djolittle. 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 



The "Home" of the Honey Bees -The Factory - 

Alighting-Board, Detachable 6 

Entrance-Blocks < . . 7 

Grape-Trellis 12 

The Vineyard Apiary, and "Swarming" the 

Grapevines 13 

The Lawn or Chaff-Hive Apiary 14 

A Modern House-Apiary 15 

] >iagram of Interior of House-Apiary 16 

Part of Our Original Hexagonal Apiary 20 

House-Apiary for Twenty Hives 20 

Foster's 14-hive House-Apiary 20 

J. H. Townley's Chaff-Hive Apiary 21 

A. A. Rice's Apiary 21 

Aster 2" 

Frank Benton's Apiarv 28 

American Linden, or Basswood 31 

Box for Bee-Hunting 33 

Climbers for Bee-Hunting 35 

From the tigg to the Bee 40 

Tunnel to shake Bees into Cage 44 

Cnges for Bees 44 

Peei 'a Introdueing-Cage 46 

Comb-Basket 53 

Foundation-Machine ; 12-inch Rolls 53 

Foundation-Machine: 10-inch Rolls 54 

Frames for Cutting Sheets for B.rood-Frames 55 

Machine for Cutting Starters for Section Boxes. . 55 

1 mpleruent to fasten Foundation 56 

Carlin's Foundation-Cutter 56 

L. Frame Wired Ready for Use 53 

Carpet-Stretcher 57 

Easterday's Foundation-Fastener 57 

Given Foundation-Press 57 

Gray's Machine to Fasten Starters in Sections. . . 58 

Parker's Machine to Fasten Starters 58 

Rest for Section-Frame 59 

Section Box Filled with Honev 60 

Pouder's Bee-Trap 61 

Case for Storing and Shipping Honey 62 

Box for Carrying Honey 63 

Sturwold's Show-Case for Honey 63 

J. Archer's Bee Ranche, Cal 65 

Chaff-Cushion Division-Board 70 

Drone-Bee 71 

The Jones Entrance-Guard 73 

Perforated Zinc for Excluding Drones 73 

Alley's Drone-Excluder, Queen-Trap, etc., Com'd. 74 

Alley's Drone-Excluder 74 

Zinc Honey-Board 74 

A California Apiary near San Diego 79 

Jones's 214-lb. Honey-Pail 88 

Screw-Cap Pail 88 

Sloping-Side Pail 88 

Williams' Stand for selling Extracted Honey 89 

Honey-Pail of Glass 89 

Quinby Honey-Knife 89 

The Novice Honey-Knife 89 

Dadant's Uncapping-Can 90 

yucca Brush 90 

Cjok's Bee-Brush 90 

Davis' Improved Bee-Brush 91 

Inside of Extractor 92 

Extractor Complete 92 

Bottom of Extractor-Can 93 

Extractor for Pieces of Comb 94 

Apiary of C. H. Lake, Baltimore, Md 95 

Apiary on Fair-ground 95 

Simplicity Bee-Feeder 100 

Gray's Improved Feeder 100 

Hains' Feeder 102 

Hains' Feeder for a Fruit-Jar 102 

Simpson Honey-Plant 104 

W. G. Phelps' Apiary, Galena, Indiana 108 

Cos-swell's Apiary, Los Angeles Co., Cal 109 

Gill-over-t he-ground 110 



The Apiary < , , . , Frontispiece 

The Lawn, or Chaff Hive 112 

Gauge for Planing Lumber 114 

Setting Parallel Bar . . .115 

Why Boards Warp 115 

Side and End View of Board 116 

Beveling Platform 116 

Iron Gauge-Frames for Hive-Making 116 

How to Set the Cross-Cut Bar 117 

Hive Set up with Gauge-Frame 117 

Taking off Strips Under tho Cover 118 

Cross-Section of Ends 118 

Washer for "Wabbling" Saw 118 

Parts of the Cover 119 

Iron Smoothing -Plane 119 

Corner Joint 120 

Langstroth Hive to Take a Simplicity Up- 
per Storv 120 

The Story-and-a-Half Hive 120 

Shipping-Case and Honey-Crate for Story- 
and-a-Half Hive 121 

Stuff CutforSiding 121 

Platform for Giving the Siding the Proper Bevel.121 

Pieces 122 

Corner-Posts 122 

Shell and Posts of Chaff Hive 122 

Pieces 122 

66. Frame that Holds the Cover 123 

Entrance-Way 123 

Side of Chaff Hive 123 

Diagram of Chaff Hive 123 

Ridge-Board 124 

Roof-Board to Chaff Hive 124 

Cover to Chaff Hive 125 

Gable End to Chaff-Hive Cover 125 

How to Make the Gable Ends 125 

Gauge for Frame-Making 126 

Corner of Frame 126 

Dovetailed Frame ...'. 126 

Different Parts 1 27 

Mat for Covering the Frames 128 

Frames of Sections Wedged up 129 

To Test a Square 129 

Gem Planer 131 

Cigar-Box Planer 131 

Clamp for Making Section Boxes 13L 

Bundle of Strips for Sections 132 

Bundle of Pieces for Section Boxes as 

They Leave the Saws 132 

One-Pound Section Box Complete 132 

Bundle of Top-Bars 132 

Bundle of End-Bars 132 

Bx-oad Frame to Hold 8 Sections, and Tin 

Separators 132 

Frame Filled with Sections of Honey 133 

Cutter-Head 133 

Saw Properly and Improperly Filed 135 

Teeth of Saw -.135 

File -. 135 

Saw-Set 135 

Philosophy of Setting a Saw 135 

Gray's New Section Box, Made all of One 

Piece of Wood 137 

Machine for Making the New All-In-One- 

Piece Section Boxes 137 

Cells of Comb 144 

Bottom of Cells 144 

Mathematics of the Honey-Comb 144 

Rhombic Dodecahedron 145 

Drone and Worker Comb 146 

J. H. Martin's Apiary, Hartford, N. Y 154 

Hutchinson's Apiary 154 

Martin's Apiary . 154 

Introducing-Cage for Cold Weather 157 

Italian Bee 159 

Railroad Apiary 165 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 



Lamp Nursery 107 

Sun nysido A piary 170 

Pollen of the Milkweed Attached to a 

Ire's Toot 171 

Motherwort 171 

Top View of Gallup and Langstroth Hives 178 

Clark's Rustic Chaff Hive 119 

Three- Frame Nucleus Hive 179 

Scottish Apiary 183 

Pollen-Basket 183 

Ragweed and Corn 1£6 

How the Bees Get the Pollen from the 

Flowers 188 

Touch-me-not 188 

Portico 191 

Queen Cells 1S6 

Queen-Cell Torn Open 198 

Drone 200 

Queen 200 

Worker 200 

Virgin Queen 201 

Cutting- Out Queen Cell 211 

Queen and her Retinue 214 

Wire-Cloth House for Transferring-, etc 223 

Folding Tent 224 

Rocky-Mountain Bee-Plant 224 

Hexagonal Cal. Apiary, Belonging to K. 

Wilkin, San Buenaventura 225 

California White Mountain Sage 227 

Townley's Smoker 2.9 

Boards for Bellows 230 

Smoker Dissected 2: 2 

Clark's Cold-Blast Smoker 232 



Soldering-Board 234 

Soldering-lmplements 234 

Sourwood 235 

Mrs. MollieO. Large's Spider-Plant 237 

Bees and the Spider-Plant 238 

Simplicity Comb-Holder 243 

Valentine's Queen-Stand 243 

An Easel to Hold Combs 243 

Simplicity Comb Holder (Jones's) 243 

Bee-Sting Magnified 247 

Shepard's Hiving-Box 252 

Repository for Swarming-lmplements 252 

Implement for "Bagging'' Swarms 253 

Swarm on a High Limb 254 

Jackel's Machine for Taking Down Swarms 255 

Whitman's Fountain Pump 260 

P. L. Viallon's Apiary, Bayou Goula, La 263 

Apiarv in Turkey in Europe 194 

Teasel 2C4 

Manner of Using Transferring Clasps, 

Wires, and Sticks 267 

Frame to set over Iliv« 268 

Wire Cloth and Lace Bee-Veils 274 

Mrs. Harrison's Bee-Dress 275 

Open-Air Feeder 281 

Fountain for Bees 281 

Gerster Wax-Extractor 284 

Leaf, Bud. and Blossom of Whitewood, or 

Tulip Tree 2-1 

Chaff Cushions 295 

An Experience that "Blessed Bees" Didn't 

Tell of T04 



¥he IBG ©f Bee Qultoe, 



A. 



ABSCOSNTDINQ SWARMS.-Fer- 
haps nothing is more aggravating in bee 
culture, than to have your bees all on a sud- 
den "light out" for parts unknown, without 
so much as stopping to give you a parting 
word of farewell, or a single token of recog- 
nition of the debt they owe you, in the 
shape of gratitude for your past kindnesses 
in providing them with a home, shelter, etc. 
Perhaps no part of animated creation exhib- 
its a greater love of home; than does the 
honey-bee ; no matter how humble or unin- 
viting the surroundings, they seem much 
attached to their home; and as they parade 
in front of their door-way after a hard day's 
work, plainly indicate that they have a keen 
idea of the rights of ownership, and exhib- 
it a willingness to give their lives freely, 
if need be, in defense of their hard-earned 
stores. It is difficult to understand how 
they can ever be willing to abandon it 
all, and with such sudden impulse, and 
common consent. No matter if they have 
never seen or heard of such a thing as a hol- 
low tree, but have for innumerable bee gen- 
erations been domesticated in hives made 
by human hands, none the less have they 
that instinctive longing that prompts them 
to seek the forest, as soon as they get loose 
from the chains of domestication. It is pos- 
sible that the bees, as they go out foraging, 
keep an eye out for desirable places for 
starting new homes, and it may be that they 
have the hollow trees picked out some time 
before they decide to leave. Many incidents 
have been reported that pretty clearly 
show this to be the case. We once found 
our bees working strongly on a particular 
locality about a mile and a half from the 
apiary, where the white clover was bloom- 
ing with most unusual luxuriance. Very 
soon after, a colony swarmed, and the bees, 
after pouring out of the hive, took a direct 
line for a tree in this clover- field, without so 
much as making any attempt to cluster at 



all. Did they not figure out the advantage 
of having only a few rods instead of over a 
mile to carry their honey, after having pa- 
tiently gathered it from the blossoms, little 
by little ? Perhaps it will be well to remark 
here, that it is very unusual for a swarm to 
go to the woods without clustering; they 
usually hang from 15 minutes to an hour, 
and many times several hours ; in fact, we 
have known them to hang over night ; but 
perhaps it would be well to take care of 
them inside of 15 or 20 minutes, if we would 
make sure of them. Long before swarming- 
time, hives should all be in readiness, and 
they should also be located just where the 
new colony is to stand, with the sawdust, 
grapevines, or whatever we decide to have, 
all in nice trim. If you are going to have a 
model apiary, please do not think of waiting 
until the bees swarm before you lay it out, 
but take time by the forelock, and with care- 
ful deliberation decide where every hive 
shall be before it is peopled with bees, if you 
wish to keep ahead and keep your bees from 
taking "French leave." 

But they sometimes go off, even after they 
have been carefully hived, some will say. 
We are well aware they do often go off after 
being hived, sometimes the same, and some- 
times the next day; but are you sure the hiv- 
ing was carefully done? We never feel 
satisfied unless we have given the new 
swarm at least one comb containing unseal- 
ed brood, and we have seldom had a swarm 
desert a hive when thus furnished, nor do we 
often hear of one's doing so. With such 
hives as we shall describe, it is a very simple 
task, and takes but a minute to open a hive 
and get such a comb. And besides, if by 
any chance you should fail to get the queen 
when you hive the swarm, they would be 
supplied with the means of rearing another. 

This plan of giving them unsealed brood 
does very well, if you can once get them into 
the hive, but it is necessarily somewhat like 



ABSCONDING SWARMS. 



ABSCONDING SWARMS. 



the one of catching birds with a handful of 
salt ; how are we to obviate losing the occa- 
sional swarm that goes off without cluster- 
ing at all V or the quite frequent cases of 
coming out unobserved, or when no one is 
at home ? We are happy to say there is a 
very certain and sure remedy for all cases of 
iirst swarming, in having the wings of the 
queen clipped so she can not fly ; this plan 
is in very general use, and answers excellent- 
ly for all first swarms ; but, alas! the after 
swarms are the very ones that are most apt 
to abscond, and we can not clip the wings of 
their queens, because they have not yet taken 
their wedding-flight. What shall we do ? 
Candidly, I don't know of any better way 
than to watcli carefully when they are to be 
expected, and then chase after them, climb 
trees, etc., until they are once got safely into 
a hive. If you think this too much trouble, 
prevent having after-swarms as we advise 
under that head. 

Clipping the wings of the queen prevents 
losing first swarms by absconding, it is true; 
but it does not always prevent losing the 
queen. She goes out with the bees as usual, 
and, after hopping about in front of the hive, 
sometimes gets ready to go back at about 
the same time that the bees d<>. after having 
discovered she is not in the crowd. Even if 
she gets some little distance from the hive, 
the loud hum they make as they return, will 
guide her home many times; but unless the 
apiarist is at hand at such times to look aft- 
er affairs, many queens will he lost, 1 x and 
the bees will rear a lot of young queens, and 
go into after-swarming in good earnest, 
making even the first swarm an "after- 
swarm." A German friend, who knows lit- 
tle of bee culture, once told me my bees were 
swarming, and if I did not ring the 
bells, etc., they would certainly go to the 
woods. As I quietly picked up the queen in 
passing the hive, I told him if they started 
to go away, I would call them back. Sure 
enough, they did start for the woods, and 
had gone so far that I really began to be 
frightened myself, when, away in the dis- 
tance, we saw them suddenly wheel about, 
and then return to the hive at our very feet. 
While he gave me credit of having some su- 
pernatural power over bees, I felt extremely 
glad I had taken precautions to clip all our 
queens' wings but a few days before. After 
this, I felt a little proud of my control over 
these wayward insects, until a fine swarm of 
Italians started off under similar circum- 

* Whenever these small figures occur, the reader 
is requested to turn to Doolittle's comments at the 
close of this book, 



stances, and, despite my very complacent, 
positive remarks, to the effect that they 
would soon come home, they went off and 
stayed " off." In a humbler, and, I dare say, 
wiser frame of mind, I "investigated," and 
found they had joined with a very small 
third swarm of black bees, that had just 
come from one of a neighbor's hives. I 
tried to "explain," but it required a five- 
dollar bill to make matters so clear that I 
could carry back my rousing swarm of yel- 
low bees, and sort out the black unfertile 
queen, that they might be made to accept 
their own. Thus you see, my friends, how 
many a slip there is, in bee culture, between 
cup and lip, and how very important it is 
that you keep posted, and also "post" your- 
self in some conspicuous place near or in 
the apiary if you allow natural swarming, and 
do not want your golden visions— and bees 
—to take to themselves wings and fly away. 

ABSCONDING FOR WANT OF FOOD. 

Perhaps bees oftener desert their hives 
because they are short of stores, than from 
any other cause ; and many times, in the 
spring, they seem to desert because they are 
nearly out. The remedy, or, rather, prevent- 
ive, for this state of affairs, is so plain that 
we hardly need discuss it. After they have 
swarmed out, and are put back into the 
hive, give them a heavy comb of sealed 
stores if you can; if not, feed them a little 
at a time, until they have plenty, and be 
sure that they have brood in the combs. If 
necessary, give them a comb of unsealed 
larvae from some other hive, and then feed 
them until they have a great abundance of 
food. You should be ashamed of having 
bees abscond for want of food. 

ABSCONDING IN EARLY SPRING. 

This seems to occur just at a time when 
you can ill afford to lose a single bee ; and, 
worse still, only when our stocks are, gener- 
ally, rather weak, so that we dislike the idea 
of losing any of them. In this case they do 
not, as a general thing, seem to care particu- 
larly for going to the woods, but rather take 
a fancy to pushing their way into some of 
the adjoining hives, and, at times, a whole 
apiary will seem so crazy with the idea, as 
to become utterly demoralized. 

A neighbor, who made a hobby of small 
hives— less than half the usual size— one fine 
April day had as many as 40 colonies leave 
their hives and cluster together in all sorts 
of promiscuous combinations. To say that 
their owner was perplexed, would be stating 
the matter very mildly. 



ABSCONDING SWARMS. 



A FTER-S WARMING . 



Similar cases, though perhaps not as bad, 
have been reported from time to time, ever 
since novices commenced to learn the sci- 
ence of bee culture; and although cases of 
swarming out in the spring were known 
once in a great while before the new im- 
provements, they were nothing like the ma- 
nia that has seemed to possess entire apia- 
ries—small ones — since the time of artificial 
swarming, honey-extractors, etc. We would 
by no means discourage these improve- 
ments, but only warn beginners against mak- 
ing too much haste to be rich. Do not di- 
vide or commence swarming your bees, until 
they are abundantly strong ; have them go 
into winter quarters with an abundance of 
sealed honey in tough old combs as far as 
may be ; give them hives with walls thick 
and warm, of some porous material, such as 
chaff or straw, with a good thickness of the 
same above ; and you will have little cause 
to fear any trouble from bees absconding in 
in the spring. 

ABSCONDING NUCLEUS SWARMS. 

This, like the above, seems an outgrowth 
of the artificial system of working with bees, 
especially the plan of rearing queens in nu- 
clei formed of two or three frames five or six 
inches square. This small-hive system was 
much in vogue about the year 1885. For 
awhile all worked finely; but soon complaints 
began to be heard that the bees left their 
hives in a body, with the queen, whenever 
she attempted to take her flight to meet the 
drones. Giving them unsealed larvae, to 
amuse and console themselves with while 
she was absent, was then advised, and it an- 
swered very well for a time; but eventually 
one after another began to declare they 
wanted no frame in the apiary for queen- 
rearing, smaller than the ordinary brood- 
frame. Since this, but little has been heard 
in the way of complaints of this kind of ab- 
sconding. Where one has the time to study 
these little swarms, there is something very 
interesting and amusing about them. We 
have had them do finely for several weeks, 
with perhaps no more than a good pint of 
bees. A good day's work during clover- 
bloom, would fill the hive completely, and 
the young queen, after commencing to lay, 
would often fill the combs by her second 
day's work ; then if she turned up missing 
on the third day, we used to wonder what in 
the world was the matter. Sometimes these 
little swarms would be found hanging on 
a currant or raspberry bush, as quietly and 
demurely as if that was the way bees always 
did ; at other times, when we had hunted 



through all available places for a truant col- 
ony, and given them up in despair, they 
would come circling back and cluster quiet- 
ly almost under our very (inexperienced) 
noses. 

There is still another kind of absconding 
that seems to be for no other reason than 
that the bees are displeased with their hive, 
or its surroundings, and, at times, it seems 
rather difficult to assign any good reason for 
their having suddenly deserted. We have 
known a colony to swarm out and desert 
their hive because it was too cold and open, 
and we have known them to desert because 
the combs were soiled and filthy from dys- 
entery in the spring. They very often swarm 
out, because they are out of stores, and this 
generally happens about the first day in 
spring that is sufficiently warm and sunny. 
We have known them to swarm out because 
their entrance was too large, and, if we are 
not mistaken, because it was too small. We 
have also known them to swarm out because 
they were so "pestered" with a neighboring 
ant hill— see Ants— that they evidently 
thought patience ceased to be a virtue. 

They often swarm out in spring where 
no other cause can be assigned than that 
they are weak and discouraged, and in such 
cases they usually try to make their way in- 
to other colonies. While it may not always 
be possible to assign a reason for such be- 
havior with medium or fair colonies, we 
may rest assured that good strong colonies, 
with ample supplies of sealed stores, seldom, 
if ever, go into any such foolishness. 

By way of summing up, it may be well to 
say : If you would not lose your bees by nat- 
ural swarming, clip the wings of all queens 
as soon as they commence laying; then look 
to them often, and know what is going on in 
the apiary every day during the swarming 
season; if you would not have runaway 
swarms in the spring, and while queens are 
being fertilized, confine your experiments to 
pecks of bees instead of pints. 

ArTER-SWAR.lVIirTG.-We might 
define this by saying that all swarms that 
come out, or are led out by a virgin queen, 
are termed after-swarms; and all swarms 
that come out within ten or fifteen days aft- 
er the first swarm, are accompanied by such 
queens. There may be from one all the way 
up to a half-dozen or even more, depending 
on the yield of honey, amount of brood or 
larvae, and the weather ; but whatever 
the number, they are all led off by queens 
reared from one lot of queen-cells, and the 
number of bees accompanying them is, of a 



AFTER-SWARMING. 



AFTER-SWARMING. 



necessity, less each time. The last one fre- 
quently contains no more than a pint of 
bees, and, if hived in the old way, would be 
of little use under almost any circumstances-, 
yet when supplied with combs already built 
and filled with honey, such as every en- 
lightened apiarist should always keep in 
store, they may be made the very best of 
colonies, for they have young and vigorous 
queens, and often are equal to any in the 
apiary, the next season. This after-swarm- 
ing is often considered a great nuisance, or 
misfortune ; but where bees can be sold, at 
even tolerable figures, we would advise tak- 
ing care of all that may come out in the man- 
ner indicated.'- In fact, we know of no easi- 
er or simpler way of raising bees ; but unless 
the apiary and bees in the vicinity are pretty 
thoroughly Italianized, there is much great- 
er risk of getting poor hybrids than by 
the different ways of artificial swarming, 
where we rear our queen-cells from choice 
selected brood. 

There is one very amusing feature in re- 
gard to these after-swarms. When they 
have decided to send out no more swarms, 
all the young queens in the hive are sent 
out, or, it may be, allowed to go out with the 
last one; and every few days during the 
swarming season, some "new hand" writes 
ns about the wonderful fact of his having 
found three or four, or it may be a half-doz- 
en queens in one swarm.' 5 On one occasion, 
a friend, who weighed something over 200, 
ascended to the top of an apple-tree during 
a hot July day to hive a very small third 
swarm. He soon came down, in breathless 
haste, to inform us that the swarm was ail 
queens; and, in proof of it, brought two or 
three in his closed-up hands. 

The queens, with these after-swarms, sel- 
dom lay in the drone -cells at all the first 
season, and the bees therefore build almost 
entirely worker-comb, which is additional 
reason for taking care of them, and supply- 
ing them with stores from other colonies. 
However, we would advise, as a general rule, 
preventing too much after-swarming if it 
can be done without much trouble ; but, if 
they will come out in spite of all we can do, 
take care of them in the manner indicated. 
While first swarms usually come out in the 
middle of the day, and take things in a reg- 
ular, methodical way, as indeed we might 
expect a laying queen of age and experience 
to do, these after-swarms, that have queens 
not yet fertilized, are to be looked for at al- 
most any time of day, from early in the 
morning until after sundown, and they may 



also be expected to do all sorts of eccentric 
things, and to cluster in all sorts of places, 
or to go off into the woods without cluster- 
ing at all. 

Preventing after-swarming can generally 
be accomplished, at least temporarily , by cut- 
ting out all queen-cells but one, after the old 
queen with the first swarm has left. 4 There 
are two objections to this plan, however. 
The first is, that if the single cell left fails to 
produce a perfect queen, the colony is left 
queenless. The second is, that they will 
som3times— especially the Italians-^swarm 
out with the only queen left, leaving the col- 
ony hopelessly queenless. With the extract- 
or, or by the use of empty combs, we can al- 
most invariably keep down the swarming fe- 
ver; but if we work entirely for comb honey, 

J even if the boxes are all supplied with foun- 
dation, we must expect to have more or less 
swarming. With box hives, perhaps the best 
we can do is to hive the after-swarms near 
the old stock, and let them set until the next 
day ; by this time all the queens will have 
been killed but one, and we can then kill her, 
shake the bees in front of their old hive, and 
all will be " lovely,' 1 or about as nearly so as 
things ever are with box hives. 
Giving the old swarm a young fertile queen 

i as soon as the first swarm has left, will usu- 
ally prevent all second swarming, at least 

i for the time being, for the laying queen will 
soon destroy all queen-cells, or induce the 

I bees to do so. A simpler method, and one 
that we believe succeeds almost invariably, 
is to move the old colony away as soon as 
the first swarm is out, and set the new one 
on the same stand. 5 This has the effect of 
getting all the flying bees into the new 
swarm, and leaving the old one so destitute 
that the queen that hatches first is allowed 

| to destroy all the rest of the cells. By this 
plan Ave are spared the trouble of opening 
the hive, but are obliged to carry eacli hive 
to a new stand as soon as it has swarmed. 
If the queen's wing is clipped, and we are at 
hand, we can manage swarming by this 

| method very expeditiously. As soon as they 
commence swarming, pick up the (|iicen 
and carry away the hive they are coming out 
of; place the new one in its stead; and as 
soon as the bees commence coming back to 
look for her, put the queen among them, and 
your hive is swarmed without their cluster- 

i ing at all. This plan works excellently, and 
the bees go right to work, apparently as per- 
fectly satistied as if they had clustered in 
the usual way. The only objection, is that 
an inexperienced person might not find the 



AGE OF BEES. 



ALIGHTING-BOAKDS. 



queen readily, and she might be lost; also, 
we are obliged to be on hand or risk losing 
our queens. It should be borne in mind, 
that a swarm that issues a month or more 
after the first swarming, is not to be consid- 
ered an after-swarm; for in this case it will 
be led out by a laying queen, or one that is 
old, compared with the queens just hatching. 
In regard to the oft-repeated advice to pre- 
vent after-swarming by removing all queen- 
cells but one, it may be well to say that the 
Italians frequently swarm without con- 
structing queen-cells at all, and the beginner 
is sadly puzzled at finding nothing of the 
kind when he looks his hive over. Also, we 
may have several after-swarms without hav- 
ing any first swarm at all, where the queen 
is killed or removed by accident. We once 
had a box-hive neighbor who was so much 
taken up with an observatory-hive he saw at 
our house, that he at once went home and made 
one, and to get the bees, drummed out about 
a quart from one of his hives. He got the 
queen, and had a very fine one-comb hive in 
his parlor ; but in a few days the box hive 
she came from commenced swarming, and 
furnished him with more queens and small 
colonies than he knew what to do with. 

AGE OP BEES.— 1 1 may be rather dif- 
ficult to decide how long a worker bee would 
live, if kept from wearing itself out by the 
active labors of the field ; six months cer- 
tainly, and perhaps a year; but the average 
life during the summer time is not over 
three months, and perhaps during the height 
of the clover-bloom, not over six or eight 
weeks. The matter is easily determined, by 
introducing an Italian queen to a hive of 
black bees, at different periods of the year. 
If done in May or June, we shall have all 
Italians in the fall; and if we note when the 
last black bees hatch out, and the time when 
no black bees are to be found in the colony, 
we shall have a pretty accurate idea of the 
age of the blacks. 6 The Italians will per- 
haps hold out under the same circumstances, 
a half longer. If we introduce the Italian 
queen in September, we shall find black 
bees in the hive until the month of May 
following — they may disappear a little ear- 
lier, or may be found some later, depending 
upon the time they commence to rear brood 
largely. The bees will live considerably 
longer if no brood is reared, as has been sev- 
eral times demonstrated in the case of strong 
queenless colonies. It is also pretty well 
established that black bees will live longer 
in the spring than Italians; probably be- 
cause the latter are more inclined to push 



out into the fields when the weather is too 
cool for them to do so with safety ; they sel- 
dom do this, however, unless a large amount 
of brood is on hand, and they are suffering 
for pollen or water. 

During the summer months, the life of 
the worker-bee is probably cut short by the 
wearing-out of its wings, and we may, at the 
close of a warm day, find hundreds of these 
heavily laden, ragged- winged veterans mak- 
ing their way into the hives slowly and 
painfully, compared with the nimble and 
perfect- winged young bees. If we examine 
the ground around the apiary at nightfall, 
we may see numbers of these hopping about 
on the ground, evidently recognizing their 
own inability to be of any further use to the 

j community. We have repeatedly picked 
them up, and placed them in the entrance, 

I but they usually seem only bent on crawling 
and hopping off out of the way, where they 
can die without hindering the teeming ris- 
ing generation. 

AGE OF DRONES. 

It is somewhat difficult to decide upon the 
age of drones, because the poor fellows are 
so often hustled out of the way, for the sim- 
ple reason that they are no longer wanted ; 
but we may be safe in assuming it some- 
thing less than the age of a worker. If kept 
constantly in a queenless hive, they might 
live for three or four months perhaps. 

AGE OF THE QUEEN. 

As the queen does little or no out-door 
work, and is seldom killed by violence as 
are the drones, we might expect her to live 
to a good old age, and this she does, despite 
her arduous oviparous duties. Some queens 
die, seemingly of old age, the second season, 
but generally they live through the second or 
third, and we have had them lay very 
well, even during the fourth year. They 
are seldom profitable after the third year, 
and the Italians will usually have a young 
queen "helping her mother" in her egg-lay- 
ing duties, before she becomes unprofitable. 
If a very large amount of brood is found in 
a hive, two queens will often be found, 
busily employed, and this point should be 
remembered while seeking to introduce val- 
uable queens. 

ALIGHTING - BOARDS. - A few 

years ago. it was common to see bee-hives 
perched upon benches or "legs," with grass 
and weeds so thick on the ground below, 
that if a heavily laden bee missed the hive, 
it was a chance if it picked its way out in a 
full half -hour ; but at present we usually see 
the hives so near the ground that those heav- 
1 



ALIGHTING-BOARDS. 

ily laden with pollen or honey may go in on 
foot, if they find it more convenient so to do. 
If you doubt the utility of having the ground 
smooth and clean in front of the hives, it 
may he well to take a look at a hive set in 
the weeds and grass, and then at one pre- 
pared in the way we advise. Several years 
ago Ave had a fine colony suspended from a 
pair of spring balances. It was in the height 
of the clover-bloom, and the hive gained in 
weight during the day an even 10 lbs. As 
the hive was raised a couple of inches from 
the ground to suspend it, the bees, at about 
9 o'clock, had fallen on the ground in quite 
a little cluster, where they paused to take 
breath, until they could again take wing to 
get into the hive. At this time, the spring 
balance showed a gain of an ounce every 
live minutes. To help them, a cloth was 
tacked from their old alighting-board to the 
entrance of the hive ; they then crawled in 
in a steady stream, and the dial of the balance 
at once showed a gain of one ounce in every 
four minutes. Other experiments seem to 
indicate very clearly that a good alighting- 
board, or, rather, a free and unobstructed 
passage to the hive, is an important matter. 
If any kind of a board is placed on the 
ground in front of the hives, it is sure to 
warp under the influence of the hot sun on 
one side, and the damp earth on the other. 
If we clamp it to prevent this, we have a 
place for toads, mice, and other vermin to 
lurk, and, taking all things into considera- 
tion, we prefer white sand, spent tan - 
bark (as advised by some), or sawdust 
spread directly on the ground. When this 
is first put down, it is blown about by the 
winds, and beaten down by the rains; but if 
you press it down when damp or wet, it will, 
when dry, hold its place nicely, is not affect- 
ed by the weather, affords no lurking-place 
under it, and gives an excellent foot - hold 
for the bees when returning during a windy 
day. After the day's work is over, the sight 
of the bees congregated about in their 
" door-yard " is suggestive of peace and 
tranquility, to any one who has studied the 
queer ways of these " little busy bodies." 
So much attached, in fact, do they seem to 
become to the idea of keeping this little 
dooryard clean and tidy, that they will labor 
by the hour in trying to pull up any tiny 
blade of grass or weeds that may have the 
audacity to attempt to grow anywhere with- 
in a foot of their hives. This sawdust idea 
is also an excellent one, when we are watch- 
ing or hunting queens with clipped wings in 
natural swarming. With a nicely kept door- 



ALIGHTING-BOARDS. 

yard, you can get your eye on the queen, 
when several yards from the hive, when, 
otherwise, you might have to hunt in the 
grass and weeds for an hour, and then not 
find her. 

With the house -apiary, we are compelled 
to have a regular door-step, or alighting- 
board, and these should be as broad as we 
can conveniently have them. Our own, are 
14x10 inches, and are securely clamped, and 
painted on both sides. While the bees do 
fall to the ground, to some extent, during a 
heavy yield of honey, there is less trouble 
than we imagined, for they generally strike 
the broad alighting-board. Another point 
that favors their easy ingress to the hives, is 
the 2-inch auger-hole entrances. Many of 
the bees will shoot right into them, and 
alight safely on the combs ; the auger - hole 
seems to be a plain mark for them to aim at, 
even when some distance from their hive. 
Very likely it accords with their natural dis- 
position of seeking hollows in the forest- 
trees, and these entrances are not very un- 
like the knot holes they many times have 
for entrances in forest-trees. It will be an 
excellent plan to keep the ground clean 
about the house - apiaries also, that we may 
see when queens are being brought out dur- 
ing natural swarming, superseded, etc. 

The old style of Langstroth hive, with its 
portico, furnishes a very convenient alight- 
ing-board; but aside from the expense, and 
inconvenient projections on the front of the 
hive, Ave have found them very annoy- 
ing on account of the excellent harbor they 
afford for spiders with their attendant Avebs. 
We might omit the roof, it is true, but then 
the rain Avould beat into the hive inconve- 
niently. Taking all things into considera- 
tion, we much prefer the entrances as used 
with the Simplicity hive, and the alighting- 
board, or alighting-ground, rather, made of 
the packed-down saAvdust. See Hives. 

To those avIio insist on the three-cornered 
blocks and a board in front, for door-step, 
Ave offer the following to be attached to any 
hive having a movable bottom. Get out of 
a i board a piece If inches wide, and as long 
as the Avidth of the front of your hive ; now, 
a piece of the same length and Avidth, but 
only f thick ; nail these together as shown 
in the accompanying cut. 




ALIGHTING-BOARD, DETACHABLE, 



D 

bevel, one 



ALSIKE CLOVEE. 

The thick piece being nailed into the edge 
of the thin one, the three-cornered pieces 
are to be nailed on the top of both, and their 
shape and dimensions will be seen at a 
glance ; they are to be only f thick, for the 
entrance is contracted and enlarged by mo- 
ving the hive backward or forward on the 
bottom-board, and we wish them so that no 
mice can get in under any circumstances. 

HOW TO SAW THE ENTRANCE-BLOCKS. 

When the entrance is very large, as in the 
summer time, the bees gain access by crawl- 
ing up the sides of these blocks ; and to fa- 
cilitate this, we have blocks' sawed on a bev- 
el. This is very quickly and nicely done by 
cutting a rectangular board from one corner 
to the other as in the dia- c 
gram. The dotted line rep- 
resents the course of the b 
saw. Now, to produce the 
corner of our square board, say C, is to be 
raised about two inches, while the opposite 
corner D lies on the saw-table ; this is eas- 
ily done by a strip, under C, that slides 
against the gauge while the saw cuts through 
on the dotted line, A B. 

This alighting-board guides the bees into 
the entrance, there are no loose blocks to be 
scattered about in the summer and get lost, 
it can be put on or taken off from any bot- 
tom - board by turning two screws, and it 
will not permit storms to beat in at the en- 
trance, even if no portico be used, for the 
top of the entrance-blocks is on a level 
with the bottom of the hives. We would 
bank up with sawdust, that the bees might 
get in easily, even if they fell a foot or two 
short of the hive when coming in. 

These alighting-boards can be furnished 
well made and neatly painted, for about ten 
cents each. We use them on all Simplicity 
hives, in our own apiary. 

ALSIKE CLOVER.— This is a cross 
between the white and the red clover,- and 
while it furnishes full as much honey as the 
red, the petals are so short that the bees 
find no difficulty in reaching it. If you im- 
agine a large head of white clover, with the 
extremities of the petals tipped with a beau- 
tiful pink— equal in beauty to a dahlia if 
they were not so common— you will have a 
very good idea of the Alsike. The leaf is 
much like that of other clovers, except that, 
in color, it is a soft clean bright green, with- 
out the spots or down that are seen on the 
white or red. 

If Alsike clover came into bloom at a sea- 
son when bees could get little else, as buck- 
wheat does, I should place it, instead of 



ALSIKE CLOVEE. 

buckwheat, first on the list of plants for ar- 
tificial pasturage.* Where white clover does 
not grow spontaneously, Alsike is, undoubt- 
edly, ahead of every thing else now known. 
It not only produces honey in large quanti- 
ties, but the quality is not excelled by any- 
thing known in the world. It is true, many 
people will prefer basswood, mountain sage, 
and other aromatic flavors, at first taste, but 
I believe every one tires of these after a 
time, and clover stands almost alone, as the 
great staple for every - day use, with, and 
like, our "bread and butter." 

CULTIVATION, AND SOWING THE SEED. 

The cultivation is so much like that of red 
clover, that what applies to the one, will do 
for the other. As the seed of the Alsike is 
much smaller] a less quantity is required ; 
the general rule is four pounds to the acre. 
As it blossoms only the second year, or. very 
sparingly the first, with ordinary cultivation, 
it may be sown almost any time, and in fact 
it is often sown on wheat on the snow in 
March. In this way, we can see just how 
evenly we are getting it on the ground. The 
farmers near me who furnish the finest seed, 
say they have the best success with that 
sown with their oats in the spring. Al- 
though Alsike will produce some honey with 
almost any cultivation, it is important to 
have the ground nicely prepared, if we wish 
to get large yields of either hay [ or honey. 
With good mellow ground, finely pulverized, 
we may get a growth of 3 feet in height, and 
a profusion of highly colored blossoms, that 
will astonish one who has never seen such a 
sight ; especially when the field is roaring 
with the hum of the busy Italians. As a 
heavy growth is liable to lodge badly during 
wet weather, it may be well to sow a sprink- 
ling of timothy seed with it. If put in ear- 
ly, it may on good soil produce considerable 
bloom the first season, but not much is to be 
expected until the second year, when it is at 
its height. It will give a fair crop the third 
year; but after that, if we would keep up a 
yield of honey, it must be sown again. It 
may be sown in the spring on fall wheat; 
but where timothy has been sown with the 
wheat in the fall, it is apt, on some soils, to 
choke out the Alsike. 

SAVING THE HAY. 

If raised for the hay and honey, without 
any reference to saving the seed, it will give 
at least two good crops every season; in 
this case, it is cut when in full bloom. In 
our locality it usually blooms the last of 



*lf Alsike is cut, or even pastured off, just before 
coming into bloom, it will blossom again, just after 
white clover is gone, and give a crop of clover hon- 
ey just when we most need it. One of our leading 
honey-men, says this fact alone, learned at a conven- 
tion, has been worth more than $50.00 to him. 



ANGER OF BEES. 

June, and sometimes furnishes considerable 
honey before the white clover is out. The 
hay is admitted by all to be equal to any of 
the grasses or clovers in use,#nd the pastur- 
age, after the clover is cut, is most excellent 
for all kinds of stock. 

SAVING THE SEED. 

The seed is always saved from the first 
crop of blossoms, and it should be allowed 
to stand about two weeks longer than when 
cut for hay. If you wish to get a good price 
for your seed, it must be very nicely cleaned. 
It is thrashed out with a clover-huller, made 
expressly for clover seed, and then cleaned 
by a fanning - mill, with the appropriate 
sieves. As timothy seed is very nearly of 
the same size, it is difficult to remove it all, 
unless by a farming-mill having the proper 
blast arrangement. As the Alsike weighs 
60 lbs. to the bushel, and timothy only 45, 
there is no great difficulty in doing it effect- 
ually. 

I need scarcely add, that whoever raises 
seed for sale, should exercise the most scru- 
pulous care, to avoid sending out foul seeds 
of any kind ; and where Canada thistles or 
weeds of that class prevail, I would, under 
no circumstances, think of raising seed to be 
sent all over the land. If they are in your 
neighborhood, raise hay and honey, and let 
seed be furnished by some one who is differ- 
ently situated. 

PROFIT OF THE CROP. 

The seed has for a number of years sold 
readily for about $12.00 per bushel, and the 
average yield of seed is about four bushels 
per acre. It retails for about 25 cents per 
pound, and 60 lbs. is reckoned as a bushel. 
See Clover. 

ANGER Or BEES. I confess I do 
not like the term "anger," when applied to 
bees, and it almost makes me angry when I 
hear people speak of their being u mad," as 
if they were always in a towering rage, and 
delight in inflicting exquisite pain on ev- 
ery thing and everybody coming near them. 
Bees are, on the contrary, the pleasantest, 
most sociable, genial and good-natured little 
fellows one meets in all animated creation, 
when one understands them. Why, we can 
tear their beautiful comb all to bits right be- 
fore their very eyes, and, without a particle 
of resentment, but with all the patience in 
the world, they will at once set to work to 
repair it, and that, too, without a word of re- 
monstrance. If you pinch them, they will 
sting, and anybody who has energy enough 
to take care of himself would do as much, 
had he the weapon. 



ANGER OF BEES. 

We as yet know very little of bees com- 
paratively, and the more we learn, the easier 
we find it to be to get along without any 
clashing in regard to who shall be master. 
In fact, we take all their honey now, almost 
as fast as they gather it; and even if we are 
so thoughtless as to starve them to death, 
no word of complaint is made. 

There are a few circumstances under 
which bees seem " cross ; " and although we 

' may not be able to account exactly for it, 
we can take precautions to avoid these un- 
pleasant features, by a little care. A few 
years ago a very intelligent friend procured 
some Italians, an extractor, etc.. and com- 
menced bee culture. lie soon learned to 
handle them , and succeeded finely ; when it 

I came time to extract, the whole business 
went on so easily that they were surprised 
at what had been said about experienced 

: hands being needed to do the work. They 

' had been in the habit of doing this work 
as I had directed, toward the middle of the 

j day, while the great mass of the bees were 
in the fields ; but in the midst of a heavy 

! yield of clover honey, when the hives were 
full to overflowing, they were one day 
stopped by a heavy thunder-shower. This, 

j of course, drove the bees home, and at the 
same time washed the honey out of the blos- 
soms so completely that they had nothing to 

j do but remain in the hives until more was 

j secreted. Not so with their energetic and 
enthusiastic owner ; as soon as the rain had 
ceased, the hives were again opened and an 
attempt made to take out the frames, as but 
an hour before; but the bees that were all 
gentleness then, seemed now possessed of the 
very spirit of mischief and malice; and when 
all hands had been severely stung, they con- 
cluded that prudence was the better part of 
valor and stopped operations for the day. 7 
While loads of honey were coming in all the 
while, and every bee rejoicing, mone were 
disposed to be cross ; but after the shower, 
all hands were standing around idle ; and 
when a hive was opened, each was ready to 
take a grab from his neighbor, and the re- 
sult was a free fight in a very short time. I 
know of nothing in the world that will in- 
duce bees to sting with such wicked reck- 
lessness, as to have them get to quarrel- 
ing over combs or honey left exposed 
when they have nothing to do. From a lit- 
tle carelessness in this respect, and nothing 
else, I have seen a whole apiary so demoral- 
ized that people were stung when passing 
along the street several rods distant. Dur- 
ing the middle of the day, when bees were 



AKGEE OP BEES. 



ASTGEK OF BEES. 



busily engaged On the flowers, during a good 
yield, I have frequently left filled combs 
standing on the top of a hive from noon un- 
til supper time without a bee touching them; 
but to do this after a hard rain, or at a time 
when little or no honey is to be gathered 
in the fields, might result in the ruin of sev- 
eral colonies, and you and your bees being 
voted a nuisance by the whole neighborhood 

Almost every season, we get more or less 
letters complaining that the bees have sud- 
denly become so cross as to be almost un- 
manageable, and these letters come along 
in July, after the clover and linden have be- 
gun to slack up. The bees are not so very 
unlike mankind after all, and all you have 
to do is to avoid opening the hives for a few 
days, until they get used to the sudden dis- 
appointment of having the avenues through 
which they were getting wealth so rapidly, 
cut off. After a week or ten days, they will 
be almost as gentle as in the times when 
they gathered half a gallon of honey daily, 
if you are only careful about leaving hives 
open too long, or leaving any bits of honey 
or comb about. 

Within a few feet of me sits a young man 
who once laughed about being afraid of 
bees, and commenced work in the apiary 
with such an earnest good will that I had 
high aspirations for him. One beautiful 
morning he was tacking rabbets into the 
hives in front of the door to the honey-house, 
whistling away, as happy as the bees that 
were humming so merrily about his head. 
Pretty soon I saw some honey and bits of 
combs that had dropped from one of the 
hives, scattered about on the ground. I told 
him he had better stop and clean it up, or 
he would certainly get stung ; as the bees 
seemed very peaceable while licking it up, 
he thought he would let them have it, in 
spite of my warning. After they had taken 
all the honey, they began buzzing about for 
more; and not finding any, in a very ungen- 
erous way commenced stinging him for his 
kindness. His lesson was a more severe one 
than I had expected, for they not only drove 
him from the apiary that morning, but I 
fear for all time to come; for although years 
have passed, he has never since wanted any 
thing more to do with bees. I regret that 
he did not, at the time, also learn the folly 
of insisting on having his own way. 

I can not tell you, at present, why bees 
sting so coolly and vindictively just after 
having had a taste of stolen sweets, yet 
nearly all the experience I have had of 
trouble with stinging, has been from this 



I very cause. Bees from colonies that have a 
' habit of robbing, will buzz about one's ears 
I and eyes for hours, seeming to delight in 
making one nervous and fidgetty, if they 
succeed in so doing, -and they not only threat- 
en, but oftentimes inflict, the most painful 
stings, and then buzz about in an infuriated 
way, as if frantic because unable to sting 
i you a dozen times more after their sting is 
i lost. The colonies that furnish this class of 
I bees are generally hybrid, or perhaps black 
bees having just a trace of Italian blood. 
I These bees seem to have a perfect passion 
for following you about, and buzzing before 
your nose from one side to the other (until 
you get cross-eyed in trying to follow their 
erratic oscillations), in a way that is most es- 
j pecially provoking. One such colony an- 
! noyed us so much while extracting, that we 
| killed the queen, although she was very pro- 
lific, and substituted a full - blood Italian. 
I Although it is seldom a pure Italian follows 
one about in the manner mentioned, yet an 
occasional colony may contain bees that do 
| it ; at least we have found such, where the 
workers were all three-banded. That it is 
possible to have an apiary without any such 
disagreeable bees, we have several times 
! demonstrated, but oftentimes you will have 
! to discard some of your very best honey- 
gatherers, to be entirely rid of them. 

With a little practice, the apiarist will tell 
as soon as he comes near the apiary, whether 
any angry bees are about, by the high key- 
note they utter when on the wing. It is 
well known that, with meal feeding we have 
perfect tranquillity although bees from every 
hive in the apiary may be working on a 
square yard of meal. Now, should we sub- 
stitute honey for the meal, we should have a 
perfect "row;" for a taste of honey found in 
the open air during a dearth of pasturage, 
I or at a time when your bees have learned to 
get it by stealing instead of honest industry, 
seems to have the effect of setting every bee 
crazy. In some experiments to determine 
how and why this result came about, we had 
considerable experience with angry bees. 
After they had been robbing, and had be- 
come tranquil, we tried them with dry su- 
gar; the quarrelsome bees fought about it 
for a short time, but soon resumed their reg- 
ular business of hanging about the well-filled 
hives, trying to creep into every crack and 
crevice, and making themselves generally 
disagreeable all round. If a hive was to be 
opened, they were into it almost before the 
cover Avas raised, and then resulted a pitched 
battle between them |nd the inmates; the 



ANTS. 10 

operator was sure to be stung by one or 
both parties, and, pretty soon, some of the 
good people in-doors would be asking what 
in the world made the bees so awfully cross, 
saying that they even 'came in-doors and 
tried to sting. Now, why could they not 
work peaceably on the sugar as they do on 
the meal, or the clover-blossoms in June ? 
We dampened the sugar with a sprinkler, 
and the bees that were at work on it soon 
started for home with a load ; then began 
the high key-note of robbing, faint at first, 
then louder and louder, until I began to be 
almost frightened at the mischief that might 
ensue. When the dampness was all licked 
up, they soon subsided into their usual con- 
dition. The effect of feeding honey in the 
open air is very much worse than from feed- 
ing any kind of syrup, and syrup from white 
sugar incites robbing in a much greater de- 
gree than that from brown sugar ; the latter 
is so little relished by them that they use it 
only when little else is to be found. It is 
by the use of damp brown sugar that we get 
rid of the greater part of what are usually 
termed angry bees, or bees that prefer to 
prowl round, robbing and stinging, rather 
than gather honey "all the day," as the great- 
er part of the population of the apiary does. 
The sugar should be located several rods 
away, and should be well protected from the 
rain, but in such a way as to allow the bees 
to have free access. When no flowers are 
in bloom, they will work on it in great num- 
bers, but when honey is to be found, you 
will see none but the prowling robbers round 
it. These, you will very soon notice, are 
mostly common bees and those having a 
very little Italian blood. We have seen 
Italians storing honey in boxes, while the 
common bees did nothing but work in the 
sugar-barrels. Where you work without a 
veil, it is very convenient to have these an- 
noying bees out of the way, and, even if they 
belong to our neighbors, we prefer to fur- 
nish them with all the cheap sugar they can 
lick up. 

The remarks that have been made are 
particularly for large apiaries ; where one 
has only a single hive and no neighbors who 
keep bees, the case is something like Eob- 
inson Crusoe on the island ; no chance for 
stealing, and consequently nothing to be 
cross about. Bees are seldom cross or an- 
gry, unless through some fault or careless- 
ness of your own. 

ANTS. Although I have given the 
matter considerable attention, I can not find 
that ants are guilty of any thing that should 



Ants. 

warrant the apiarist in waging any very de* 
termined warfare against them. Some 
years ago, a visitor frightened me by saying 
that the ants about my apiary would steal 
every drop of honey as fast as the bees could 
gather it. Accordingly, I prepared myself 
with a tea-kettle of boiling water, and not 
only killed the ants, but some of the grape- 
vines also. Afterward there came a spring 
when the bees, all but about eleven colo- 
nies, dwindled away and died, and the hives 
filled with honey, scattered about the apiary 
unprotected, seemed to be about as fair a 
chance for the ants that had not " dwindled" 
a particle, as they could well ask for. I 
watched to see how fast they would carry 
away the honey, but, to my astonishment, 
they seemed to care more for the hives that 
contained bees, than for those containing 
only honey. I soon determined that it was 
the warmth from the cluster that especially 
attracted them, and as the hives were di- 
rectly on the ground, the ants soon moved 
into several that contained only a small 
cluster and for awhile both used one common 
entrance. As the bees increased, they be- 
wail to show a decided aversion to having 
two families in the same house, although the 
ants were evidently inclined to be peaceable 
enough, until the bees tried to " push " mat- 
ters, when they turned about and showed 
themselves fully able to hold possession. 
The bees seemed to be studying over the 
matter for a while, and finally I found them 
one day taking the ants, one by one, and car- 
rying them high up in the air, and letting 
them drop at such a distance from their 
home, that they would surely never be able 
to walk back again. The bees, as fast as 
they became good strong colonies, drove the 
ants out, and our experience ever since has 
been, that a good colony of bees is never in 
any danger of being troubled in the least by 
ants. One weak colony, after battling awhile 
with a strong nest of the ants, swarmed out ; 
but they might have done this any way, so 
we do not lay much blame to the ants. 

Ants sometimes annoy us very much by 
getting into barrels of honey, sugar, etc., 
and I do not know of any way of remedying 
the mischief except to get them out, and 
then keep them out. The cloth covers 
we use for our extractors, we find very con- 
venient for keeping them out of barrels. 
Slip the cloth over the top of the barrel and 
press the upper hoop over it, and no ant can 
force its way in. Sugar-boxes are made 
with tight-fitting covers on purpose. Some- 
times it is quite convenient to protect the 



APIABIST. 



11 



APIAEY. 



contents of a table by setting the feet in 
dishes of water; bnt we have seldom found 
them so troublesome as to be obliged to re- 
sort to such measures. 

Ants frequently kill the young grapevines, 
and young plants and trees of different 
kinds, and it may be well therefore to know 
how to get rid of them pleasantly and easily. 
I really can not feel like recommending 
boiling water, on account of its cruelty, 
besides the danger of killing our vines, etc., 
by its use. It is well known, that where 
things do not please them, they are much 
disposed to "pull up stakes" and "ab- 
scond," very much in the way the bees do; 
and the simplest way we know of inducing 
them to do this, is to sprinkle powdered bo- 
rax about their hills. After the first rain, 
you will see them forming a " caravan," lug- 
ging their larvae, stores, etc., to a place where 
they are not annoyed by the disagreeable 
soapy borax. Spots in our apiary, where 
they have been on hand every season for 
years, have been permanently vacated after 
one application of this simple remedy. If 
they make troublesome "trains" running 
into the pantry, honey-house, etc., you are 
to follow them out to their nest, and 
there apply the borax. As I have said be- 
fore, I have not been able to discover that 
ants have any particular liking for honey, 
and I should take very little trouble to drive 
them away, unless they got into the liquid 
honey and got drowned or something of that 
kind. By making their habits and instincts 
a careful study, we shall probably get at the 
readiest means of banishing them, and we 
may also discover that they are no enemy 
after all, as has often been the case with 
many of the insect and feathered tribes. 
Let us try to be as neighborly as we consist- 
ently can, with all these wonderful little 
creatures, that, in a certain sense, are fellow- 
travelers in this world of ours.* 

APIARIST. One who keeps bees, or a 
bee-keeper ; and the place where he keeps 
his bees is called an 

APIARY. As you can not well aspire 
to be the former until you are possessed of 
the latter, we will proceed to start an apiary. 

LOCATION". 

There is scarcely a spot on the surface of 
the earth where mankind find sustenance, 
that will not, to some extent, support bees, 
although they may do much better in some 
localities than in o thers. A few years ago it 
was thought that only localities especially 
favored would give large honey-crops; but 



* Since the above was written, several cases have 
been reported from the South, of ants killing caged 
queens, and queens that have been liberated on 
hatching brood as per directions in Intboducing 
Queens. These cases, of course, occurred when the 
number of bees was too small to properly protect 
themselves. 



since the introduction of the Italians, and 
the new methods of management, we are 
each year astonished to hear of great yields 
here and there, and from almost every quar- 
ter of the globe. It will certainly pay to try 
a hive or two of bees, no matter where you 
may be located. 

Bees are kept with much profit, even in 
the heart of some of our largest cities. In 
this case, the apiary is usually located on the 
roof of the building, that the bees may be 
less likely to frighten nervous people, and 
those unacquainted with their habits. Such 
an apiary would be established like those on 
the ground in all essential points. 

Select a spot near the dwelling, and, if pos- 
sible, have it where you will be likely to cast 
your eye every time you pass out or in. Al- 
though trees can scarcely be said to be ob- 
jectionable, we believe we would prefer a 
clear piece of ground, that we might 
supply the shade to our liking. It will be 
an excellent investment of your time or 
money to have the plat nicely cleaned of all 
rubbish, and the ground leveled as far as 
may be ; if you can get it in the condition 
of a brick-yard all the better ; a gentle slope 
would be desirable; and although a slope to 
the south and east has been thought best, 
we are not sure that it makes any particular 
difference. As we wish the ground to dry 
quickly after showers, it will be an excellent 
plan to have it all underdrained. If you 
can not well do this, make open ditches 
around the outside, or wherever water seems 
disposed to stand. The ground should be a 
little higher than the surrounding land, for 
this very reason, and you should be careful 
that no low places are left where the water 
may collect and stand around or near the 
hives. 

Bees ascend with difficulty when heavily 
laden, and on this account we would have 
the apiary located in a valley, rather than 
on a hill, that they may rise as they go in 
quest of stores, and then have a downward 
slope as they come in with their loads. 
They will also suffer less from the effects of 
heavy winds, when given a home on rather 
low ground. 

WIND-BREAKS. 

A tight board fence should surround the 
plat, at least on the north and west sides, to 
keep off cold winds; and if it can be made 
strong enough to stand the prevailing winds 
it will be all the better to have it as much as 
8 feet high. We would by all means advise 
having some kind of an inclosure that will 
exclude poultry, dogs, etc. A flock of "en- 
terprising" hens will make more disorder in 



APlAftY 



13 



APtABY. 



a few hours in a well-kept apiary than the 
owner can restore in half a day. We wish 
to have the ground so clean that we can get 
down on our knees, in front of any hive, at 
any time. This we can not do in any inclo- 
sure where poultry have free access. The 
high strong fence will also do much to dis- 
courage thieves from attempting to pillage 
the honey, for climbing into such an inclo- 
sure is quite risky business when it adjoins 
a dwelling. If a part of the dwelling could 
open directly into the apiary, it would be a 
fine thing on many accounts. 

THE VINEYARD APIARY. 

Get two posts 6 feet long and three inches 
square; these must be of some durable wood, 
white oak for instance. If you can afford 
the trouble and expense, we really would 
prefer that you have them planed and paint- 
ed ; at any rate, do not expect your apiary 
ever to be any thing you may be proud of, if 
you push down some old sticks temporarily, 
one longer than the other, perhaps, and both 
askew, for such work soon becomes unat- 
tractive, and is shunned. Many visitors 
have admired our apiary, and thought it no 
Wonder we enjoyed bee-keeping in such a 
place, and these same persons have declared 
their intention of tipping their poor neg- 
lected hives of bees up square and true, re- 
moving the weeds, starting grapevines, etc., 
but, alas ! their attempts were too often but 
a couple of sticks picked up hastily as we 
have mentioned, and a few vigorous strokes 
in the battle with old dame Nature, and then 
they desisted, before the "coy old lady" had 
even had time to yield and bless her devo- 
tees with such smiles as only the successful 
cultivator of the soil knows she can give. 

Select the site of your workshop, for such 
we shall expect it to be, near the center of 
your plat of ground, and drive these posts or 
stakes so that they stand east and west, and 
just three feet from each other, measuring 
from outside to outside. They are to be 
driven in the ground so that just four feet 
is left above, and they must stand plumb and 
square ; if you can't make them true other- 
wise, get a lever and strong chain and twist 
them until they are so. Now nail a strip of 
pine board 1x3 inches and 3 feet long, on the 
south of both, and just level with the top, 
from one to the other ; just three feet below 
this, nail a similar one. When the whole is 
square, true, and plumb, stretch three wires 
from one strip to the other ; these are 
to be at equal distances from the posts and 
from each other, and we would then have 
something like the following figure. 



Let A, A, represent the posts; B, B, the 
1x3 strips nailed on the south side of the 
posts, and C, D, E, the wires. These wires 
should be galvanized iron wire, about No. 
16 or 17 ; larger would be more expensive 
and no better. Now we are all ready to 
have a fine thrifty Concord grapevine plant- 




ed directly underneath the central wire D. 
Of course some other grape will do, but we 
have found none so hardy and thrifty, and 
that gives us the strong rapid growth that 
is so desirable for making a shade for our 
hives, as soon as extreme hot weather comes 
on.* Vines are usually planted only in the 
spring and fall ; but we should have very 
much more confidence in your success, if we 
knew you were one of those clever individ- 
uals who can plant a vine and make it grow, 
at any season of the year. You can surely 
do it if you have a mind to. Go to your 
nearest nurseryman (don't ever buy of ped- 
dlers), tell him what you want, and get him 
to help you take up the vine, roots, dirt, and 
all, soaking the soil with water to make it 
stick together if need be, while you place 
the whole in a bushel basket for transporta- 
tion. Make a large hole beneath your trel- 
lis, and lift your vine into it as carefully as 
you took it up, fill in with good soil, and, 
after cutting off all the top but one shoot 
with three or four leaves, treat it just as you 
would a hill of corn that you wish to do 
extra well. If the operation is done in hot 
dry weather, it will probably need watering, 
and may be shading, until it gets started. 
We expect you in future to see that no weed 
or spear of grass is allowed to make its ap- 
pearance within a yard, at least, of this grape- 
vine. Those accustomed to making rustic 
work would doubtless be able to make very 
pretty trellises at a trifling expense for ma- 



*In large apiaries a single stake is often used, as it 
is less expense in construction and also in the future 
care of the vines, and answers very well. 



APIAEY. 



13 



APIAEY. 



terials. This vine is to have its one shoot 
tied to the central wire, D, as fast as it 
grows, pinching off all side shoots after they 
have made one leaf. When it gets to the 
top of the trellis, pinch it off also, and it 
will soon throw out side shoots. Pinch all 
off again except one on each side near the 
bottom-bar B. Train these bv tying, straight 



every summer, and pinching them off when- 
ever they get to the top. 

Very well ; your one vine is supposed to 
have become strong and vigorous, and not 
only to have covered the trellis completely, 
but to have become impatient, seemingly, of 
being restrained by the continual pinching 
back necessary to keep it within such nar- 




THE VINEYARD APIARY, AND 

out, horizontally, until they reach the posts, 
then train them up the posts and pinch them 
off like the middle one. Xow get two more 
shoots to train up the wires, C and E, and 
we are done. The future treatment of the 
vines consists only in cutting the upright 
shoots all back to the horizontal arms tied 
to the lower bar, B, every winter, train- 
ing two new shoots up each wire and post 



'SWARMING" THE GRAPEVINES. 

row limits. Perhaps it has in fact manifested 
this by blossoming and attempting to bear 
grapes out of season near the top bar of the 
trellis. It is precisely like a colony having 
too many bees for the size of the hive. Very 
likely, each one of the ten upright canes has 
produced three or four fine clusters of extra 
large nice berries, but still the vigor of the 
vine (if our directions have been carefully 



APIARY. 

complied with) is equal to something more ; 
and, accordingly, we encourage one of the 
outside canes by allowing it to send a new 
shoot up above the rest of the trellis. When 
this is well started, the whole cane is bent 
over so as to go straight down to the ground, 
and then curved outward so as to lie in a 
trench a few inches deep, that it may be 
covered with soil enough to protect it from 
injury. 

A new trellis is now to be constructed, if 
it has not been done before, just 4 feet from 
the old one ; that is, the two trellises are to 
have a walk of just 4 feet in width between 
them. The new shoot grows very rapidly 
and can soon be tied up to the first post of 
the new trellis and across the lower bar. 
Now select a side shoot for each wire, and 
almost before you are aware of it, you have 
another complete grapevine. The engrav- 
ing will make it all plain. 

The view is taken from the south side, 
and the hives are just visible through the 
foliage in their proper places. One strong 



14 APIARY. 

only. Although their remaining attached 
to the old vine does not seem to impair its 
productiveness, the aid they receive from it 
is quite important. This matter we tested 
by chopping one of the new vines off where 
it left the old one, as we were hoeing about 
them. It had been growing with great vig- 
or, and had considerable fruit on it, but the 
next day the sun hung its foliage like wilted 
cabbage - leaves. By heavy mulching and 
buckets of water, we induced it to look up 
again, but it is far behind its comrades, 
and we have decided not to sever " pa- 
rental ties"' in future at all, and if we are 
careful in laying them down to tie them 
close to the posts, they are never in the way. 

The idea, that the culture of bees in any 
way interferes with that of grapes, is a joke 
entirely outside of our experience. Where 
grapes are trained thus, fowls, if allowed, 
will make sad havoc among them ; the bees 
of course then work on the bruised ones, but 
seldom otherwise. 

It may be urged that the above is too 




THE LAWN OR CHAFF-IIIVE APIARY. 



vine will furnish shoots for not only a new 
one at the right and left, but even for the 
whole six that are to surround the original 
one, and in a single season, if need be. As 
the new vines take root almost as soon as 
laid down, the old vine suffers but little 
loss, and we have known new ones, started 
in this manner the 4th of July, to be well 
loaded with fine grapes the next season, 
their connection with the old vine enabling 
them to become bearing vines in one year 



much trouble ; it is some, but the fine crops 
of fruit that are almost, sure to be secured 
every season should pay well for it all; 
and if you have more than is needed for 
home use, you will find a ready sale for 
such grapes at good prices. 



LAWN OR CHAFF-HIVE APIARY. 

With these Ave can dispense with the grape- 
vines entirely ; as their thick, chaff-packed 
walls protect them from the sun, as well as 



APIARY. 



15 



APIARY. 



from the frosts of winter. Such an apiary 
may be made very pretty, for it is in reality 
a miniature city, with its streets and thor- 
oughfares. During the swarming season, it 
will probably, at times, be quite a busy little 
city. Some expense and care is avoid- 
ed by this plan, it is true, but the hives cost 
considerably more, and are rather unwieldy 
to handle when bees are to be moved about, 
sold, etc. The fact that they can be safely 
wintered on their summer stands, and that 



something more than a century past. 
The objections to the house -apiary are, 
first,the expense; especially the first expense; 
for one can make a start in bee culture with 
a very small amount of capital, with the 
out-door hives, and the sales of honey and 
bees will at once furnish all the capital need- 
ed, for a moderate yearly increase. With 
the house, the capital to put up the building 
must be furnished at the outset, and a house 
for 50 colonies will cost much more than 




A MODERN HOUSE-APIARY. 



very little preparation is needed to enable 
them to winter safely, is much in their favor. 



THE HOUSE-APIARY. 

This is a very old idea, having been rec- 
ommended and used at different times for 



the same number of hives. Most apiarists 
prefer AA'orking in the open air to being 
cramped up in a building (no matter how 
large it may be), even at the expense of hav- 
ing to perform more labor ' and take more 
steps. Secondly, in a building, we are obliged 



APlARY. 

to get all the bees out of a room every time 
Ave open a hive, and bees are very untidy 
when crushed by careless footsteps on the 
floor of a room. 

To avoid this necessitates an almost in- 
cessant use of the broom. Again, when 
young bees are just sallying out for their 
first flight, they will, if the hive is opened at 
just the right time, come out in the house 
in great numbers, and to try to stop them 
by any other means than closing the hive, is 
like trying to stop the rain from falling. 
These bees, after having had their " play- 
spell, v will insist on returning to the hive 
in the same way that they came out, and if 
they are driven out of the house and the 
door closed, they will sometimes collect in a 
large cluster on or about the door. It is 
true they are seldom lost, for they will usu- 
ally be allowed to enter the hives nearest 
the door; but it weakens the hive from 
which they came, and is very apt to puzzle a 
novice in the business sorely. To obviate 
this trouble, we can avoid opening the hives 
during the afternoon, or at such times as 
the bees are likely to rush out for a play ; 
after a shower for instance. 

On the preceding page we give a picture 
of the house-apiary that we have used for 
several years. A more accurate cut of the 
building as it now appears will be found in 
the picture of our apiary - see frontispiece. 
The interior will be readily understood 
from the accompanying diagram; the upper 
storj is at present occupied by the children 
as a play-room. Perhaps the most difficult 
part to make in the whole building is the 
roof, unless we make it of tin ; this is some- 
what expensive; but if kept well painted, it 
will last almost indefinitely. The orna- 
mental work is, of course, in no way essen- 
tial to the success of the establishment pe- 
cuniarily. 

Many house-apiaries are constructed of a 
square or oblong shape, but our objections 
to such woidd be the difficulty of getting 
the bees out of the corners of the room 
(this might be obviated by having a square 
house with the doors at two opposite cor- 
tiers), and the increased danger of having 
both bees and queen get into the wrong 
hives. From the engraving of the house- 
apiary, and diagram of the ground plan giv- 
en below, it will be seen that only 3 hives 
are on a side. The bees from the central 
one will, of course, recognize their own en- 
trance, and those at each side, being the end 
of the row, will also find theirs without 
trouble. To make the entrance to each hive 



16 APIARY. 

still more conspicuous we take advantage of 
the battens on the building, as will be seen 
from the diagram. The building is made of 
pine or other boards one foot in width, and 
these boards,which are put on up and down, 
constitute the entire frame of the building. 
Six of them, put as close together as they 
will come conveniently, form one of the 
eight sides, and the cracks are covered with 
a beveled batten, one edge of the corner 
boards being beveled slightly, that the bat- 
ten may close the corner crack also. 

A represents one of the heavy outer doors, 
and B, the light door with glass sash ; these 
doors are the same, on both the east and 
west sides of the building. G is the shelf 
that runs entirely around the room, on which 
the hives are placed. It is about 3| feet 
from the floor, and should be about 18 inch- 




DIAGRAM OF INTERIOR OF IIOUSE-APIARY. 



es wide. The hives are made by a simple 
division-board, E, that holds a pair of metal 
rabbets on its upper edge, one facing each 
way ; the combs are hung on these; and 
when all are in place, a sheet of glass, F, 
bound with tin around its edges, closes the 
hive by being hung in the rabbets the same 
as are the frames. The top of the hive is 
closed by the usual sheet of duck. During 
winter and spring, the bees are protected by 
thick chaff cushions laid on the duck sheets. 
It will be seen that these sheets of glass face 
the spectator on all sides of the room, and 
when we can see the bees, during the work- 
ing season, filling sections and building 
comb just back of these glass division- 
boards, the effect is more beautiful than, 
can well be imagined. The room should 
afford as few corners, where stray bees may 
get a lodging, as possible; and to this end, 



APIAEY. 



17 



APIAKY. 



we close the triangular corners by bits of 
board, I, I. They may have a knob on top, 
and these boxes will then serve for little 
cupboards, in which to keep various uten- 
sils. If the room is open a great deal, the 
bees are inclined to waste time in buzzing 
against the glass ; therefore it may be well 
to have a cloth curtain to drop over them, 
except when we wish to examine the progress 
of the colony. To prevent the house from 
becoming damp, we need a ventilator, H, in 
the center of the ceiling, about a foot square ; 
we can also have a trap-door in the cen- 
ter of the floor to admit cool air from the 
cellar, during very hot weather. D is the 
door -step, and the entrances are shown 
through the walls, just by the battens. It 
will be observed that the middle hive on 
each side has its entrance through, or rath- 
er under, the batten ; this is that the bees 
may have an additional mark for their own 
hive, for the entrances (2-inch auger-holes) 
at the sides, are made at the right and 
left of the battens. The plan seems to work 
well, for we have lost fewer queens in the 
house-apiary than from any of our out-door 
hives. The battens are also a shade darker 
in color than the rest of the house ; thus 
making them ornamental as well as useful. 
A light drab is a very pretty color for such 
a building. 

Besides the hives we have just described 
on the shelf, we have precisely the same 
arrangement of them on the floor, or, if pre- 
ferred, raised on a platform a couple 
of inches above the floor. In extracting, 
we can get along very well with the lower 
tier, by removing the sheet of glass, and 
shaking the bees on the floor close to their 
combs ; with the upper ones, we find it best 
to stand on a chair or box, and shake them 
on top of the frames close to the wall. If they 
scatter about, and threaten to run all over 
the walls and ceiling, take the next hive from 
the other side, until they get back, assisting 
them meanwhile with a little smoke. For 
comb honey, we work just as we do with 
the out-door hives. 

The upper story will be found very conve- 
nient for storing various things about the 
apiary, such as the chaff cushions during 
the summer, and empty sections and combs 
during the winter ; for we wish to have 
our lower room, at least, always neat and 
tidy. 

The good and desirable qualities of the 
house-apiary are, first, it is always sheltered 
and dry, and if the building is kept painted, 
the hives will always be in good repair; 



this is quite an advantage over out-door 
hives. The hives can be much more quickly 
opened, as they need no other covering than 
the chaff cushions in winter, and a single 
sheet of cloth in summer. Secondly, sur- 
plus honey, either extracted or comb, can 
be removed in much less time, for we have 
only to remove it and store it in the center 
of the room, instead of the laborious car- 
rying that has to be done with out-door 
hives. Also empty combs, combs filled for 
destitute colonies, empty frames, frames of 
section boxes, and, in short, everything need- 
ed in working about the hives may be stored 
in the center of the room, within arm's reach 
of every one of the 36 hives. Furthermore 
we can handle the bees and do all kinds of 
work with them during rainy and wet weath- 
er when the out-door hives could not be 
touched. 

Nay, further ! we can handle the bees by 
lamplight after the duties of the day are 
over ; we have repeatedly made new 
colonies thus, to avoid the robber bees that 
were so annoying in the day time, during a 
dearth of pasturage.* By closing the glass 
doors, and opening the outer doors, we can 
work in perfect freedom from robbers at 
any season of the year. Artificial swarm- 
ing, queen-rearing, etc., can be carried on 
very expeditiously, and at a small expense, 
for the reasons we have mentioned. It has 
been said, that the bees sting worse in the 
house than in the open air. This may be 
the case under some circumstances, but we 
think not as a general rule. The house gets 
unpleasantly filled with smoke from the 
smoker, but it will be but little expense to 
have a box in which to set the smoker, hav- 
ing a smoke-pipe communicating with the 
open air. 

There is still another advantage in the 
house-apiary, and it is perhaps the most im- 
portant of all. It is that the bees, honey, and 
all the implements, can be easily kept under 
lock and key ; a very important item where 
thieving is very prevalent. Where the api- 
arist becomes the owner of more colonies 
than can profitably be kept in one place, he 
can establish house-apiaries at almost any 
point, and I have long had visions of a large 
central apiary, with 6 house - apiaries ar- 
ranged hexagonally all about it ; say three 
miles from the center, and three miles from 
each other. I think they could be so man- 
aged that a visit once a week during the 
honey season would, as a general thing, be 
all that would be needed. Some loss would 

*See Robbing. 



APIARY. 



18 



APIARY. 



result from unexpected swarming, but this 
could in a great measure be obviated by the 
use of the extractor, or an abundant supply 
of sections furnished with the fdn. If locat- 
ed near a dwelling, some of the inmates 
would soon learn to hive the swarms, and 
look after things that might turn up. No 
one should think of undertaking this, until 
he has the ability of first caring well for one 
apiary ; and it can never be made a success, 
until we have got entirely over all such 
foolishness as allowing bees to starve, to re- 
main a long time queenless, or to dwindle 
down from any cause, as too many of us 
now do. 

With a good horse, and a trim light buggy, 
it would be very pretty work, riding about 
and overseeing these apiaries ; but who 
among us has the ability to do it successful- 
ly ? Instead of answering aloud, go to work 
quietly, and let your works be the answer. 

FLOATING APIARY. 

This project, we believe, has never as yet 
been put in practice in our own country. 
The idea is to have an apiary on a large flat- 
bottomed boat or raft, which is to be floated 
along on some of our large rivers, so as to 
be constantly in the midst of the greatest 
flow of honey almost the season through. 
It is well known that the white clover com- 
mences to bloom first in the extreme south, 
and then gradually moves northward ; if we 
could be in the midst of this yield during its 
height, for 3 or 4 months, it would seem 
enormous crops might be obtained. We are 
informed by history, that the ancient Egypt- 
ians of the Nile made a practical success of 
these floating apiaries, and that they were 
warned when it was time to return home, 
by the depth to which the boat sank in the 
water, under the weight of the cargo of hon- 
ey. That the bees might not be lost, the 
apiary was floated to a new field during the 
night. Something similar, located on wheels 
to be drawn by horses, has been suggested, 
but we believe never attempted. 

Since the above was written, Mr. C. O. 
Perrine, formerly in the honey business in 
Chicago, has put the project into practice, 
on a rather large scale. Between four and 
five hundred colonies were put on a couple 
of barges, and towed by a steamer up the 
river from New Orleans. The establishment 
started out in the spring of 1878; but as the 
affair terminated, I think the enterprise 
can hardly be called a success. In conse- 
quence of several accidents, the hives were 
finally taken from the barges and carried by 
the steamer until a favorable point was 



reached, and then set out on the land, like 
an ordinary apiary, the process being re- 
peated as often as the forage began to fail. 
As near as I can gather from newspaper re- 
ports, the loss of bees, Avhile flying on the 
water, was one of the principal drawbacks. 
Our friend Perrine declares it his intention 
to try again, until all difficulties have been 
met and overcome; and as he has invested 
several thousand dollars in the experiment, 
he has the hearty sympathy of the bee-folks 
of our land. Those interested will find fur- 
ther particulars in the April Gleanings, 
and in the August Bee-keepers' Magazine, 
for 1878. 

THE RAILWAY APIARY. 

The honey-house is placed at the lowest 
side of the apiary, and a track or tracks with 
proper switches made to run between each 
two rows of hives. A barrel is fixed low 
down in the car, and extractor and imple- 
ments placed over it. The whole is covered 
with a light square tent, made of canvas 
and wire cloth, for an assistant to work se- 
cure from robbers. Roll your car to the top 
of the slope, hand the full frames from the 
hive through a slit in the canvas to your 
assistant until the hive is finished ; then roll 
your car to the next two hives, and so on 
until you get to the house, when your barrel 
should be full and ready to roll off for an- 
other. 

The same arrangement would answer for 
avoiding the labor of removing comb honey 
from the hives ; and if the bees are wintered 
in-doors, the hives can be placed on the car, 
and run directly into the wintering house. 

Some experiments have been made with 
hives permanently located on small low 
cars, which are to be run into a frost-proof 
house for wintering, or whenever the weath- 
er is such as to make it advisable to house 
them. 

WHICH STYLE OF APIARY TO ADOPT. 

By way of summing up, I will state that 
with my present experience I would choose 
the chaff -hive apiary, for honey alone. For 
raising bees and and queens for sale, I would 
use the vineyard apiary and Simplicity hives, 
lifting the bees into Chaff hives to winter. 
If I were in a neighborhood where honey 
and bees were very likely to be stolen, or if 
I were going to locate an apiary away from 
home, I would choose the house-apiary. Ob- 
jections to the latter are, the inconvenience 
of handling hives that you can not walk all 
around, and the expense of the building. 
For general purposes, I would use a vine- 
yard apiary, with both Simplicity and chaff 
hives. 



APIARY. 



1!) 



APIARY. 



MOVING WHOLE APIARIES TO MORE NOR- 
THERN LOCALITIES IN ORDER TO STRIKE 
THE CLOVER AND BASSWOOD BLOOM. 

May, 1884. — At this present time much is 
said about moving bees so as to strike the 
honey-flow ; and several experiments have 
been made that seem to indicate there is no 
difficulty in making it a success. For in- 
stance, we have had a single colony in one 
day bring in as many as 18 lbs. of honey from 
the bass wood-bloom. Now, this great hon- 
ey-flow lasts but a few days. If it could be 
prolonged for months, or even weeks, won- 
derful things might be done. After the col- 
ony above mentioned gave me 18 lbs. of hon- 
ey in a day, the honey-flow soon gradually 
went down, and finally stopped altogether. 
After a lapse of perhaps two weeks, when 
basswood was entirely gone, and our bees 
were trying to rob each other's hives, I hap- f 



pened to make a visit in the northern part of 
Michigan. There I found a brother bee- 
keeper rejoicing in the height of the bass- 
wood season. Now, by moving colonies 
every ten days or two weeks, so as to strike 
points where basswood flourished largely, it 
seems to me we might secure immense crops 
of honey — enough to repay with good inter- 
est all the expenses of transportation, by rail 
or otherwise. During this present season, 
several experiments will probably be made 
on quite an extensive scale in this direction. 
Of course, the idea is alluded to under the 
head of Floating Apiary ; but there seems 
to be a little difficulty or inconvenience in 
transporting bees by water. Points where 
basswood is known to yield honey largely al- 
most every season are now being discussed a 
good deal through our bee-journals. 




J. II. TOAVNEEY'S CIIAFF-IIIVE AriARY, TOMPKINS, .JACKSON CO., MICH. 




A. A. RICE'S APIARY, INCLUDING HOUSE- ARIARY, SEYTLEE, OHIO. 



APHIDES. 



23 ARTIFICIAL FERTILIZATION. 



APHIDES. It is with that class of these 
insects that produce honey (or, rather, a 
sweetish substance that bees collect and 
store as honey), that we have to do. They 
are a kind of plant-lice, and are to be seen 
in almost all localities, and during nearly 
all the summer and fall months, if we only 
keep our eyes about us, and notice them 
when they are right before us. If you ex- 
amine the leaves of almost any green tree, 
you will find them peopled by small insects, 
almost the color of the leaves on which they 
live ; while some are quite large, others are 
almost or quite invisible to the naked eye. 
Now all these bits of animated nature, while 
they feed on the green foliage, are almost 
incessantly emitting a sort of liquid ex- 
crement ; and as this is usually thrown some 
distance from the insect, it often falls from 
the leaves of the tree, like dew. If this mat- 
ter is new to you, I would ask you to ex- 
amine the stone pavements early in the 
morning, under almost any green tree ; an 
apple or willow will be pretty sure to show 
spots of moisture, something as if water or 
rain had been sprinkled over it in a fine 
spray. The leaves of the trees will also be 
found somewhat sticky where the exudation 
is sufficient to make it noticeable. 

This substance is, I believe, not always 
sweet to the taste, but usually so. The 
quantity is often so small as to be unnoticed 
by the bees; but occasionally they will seem 
quite busy licking it up. I have several 
times found them at work on the leaves of 
our apple-trees very early in the morning, 
but never to such an extent that it might 
really be called honey-dew. I have seen 
them also on a willow fence, making it 
hum like a buckwheat field, and at the same 
time the ground under the trees looked as 
if molasses had been sprinkled about. The 
bees were at work on the ground also ; the 
honey tasted much like cheap molasses. 
The strange part of the matter was that 
this occurred during a warm day late in the 
month of Oct. ; it proceeded entirely from 
the aphides, for they literally covered the 
leaves of the willow, and could be plainly 
seen ejecting the sweet liquid, while they fed 
on the leaves. This was plainly the cause 
of the honey-dew in this case, but it is by no 
means clear that such is always the case. 
See Honey-Dew. 

ARTIFICIAL COMB. Although 
several attempts have been made to produce 
comb for the bees of full depth of cell, we 
believe all have resulted in failures; the 
bees either leave them untouched, or gnaw 



them down, and build their own in place. 
If given the base of the cell, however, with 
only shallow walls of such depth that the 
bees can reach to the bases with their man- 
dibles so as to shape and thin the bottom as 
they wish before the walls are raised, the 
case is quite different ; for they are used then 
as readily, perhaps, as their own natural 
comb, as has been abundantly proven by 
the Comb Foundation, which see. 

ARTIFICIAL FERTILIZATION. Much 
time and money has been expended in wire- 
cloth houses, and glass fixtures, to accom- 
plish this result, the more, perhaps, because 
a few sanguine individuals imagined they 
had succeeded in having the queens meet 
the drones in confinement, thus securing the 
advantage of choice drones, as well as queens, 
to rear stock from.* 8 A friend of mine was 
quite sure he succeeded; but after examin- 
ing into the matter it was found that the 
queens got out and took their flight in the 
usual way through the passage that was left 
for the worker-bees ; he having based his 
calculations on the oft-repeated statement 
that a queen could not pass through a pas- 
sage 5-32 of an inch in width. The queen 
just before her flight is very slender, and 
will get through a passage that an ordinary 
laying queen would not, and those who 
claimed to have succeeded, being rather 
careless observers, might have supposed 
that the fertilization had in reality taken 
place in the hive. Again, one of those who 
claimed to have succeeded states that a 
queen will always take exercise in the open 
air, after she has been fertilized in confine- 
ment ; this seems to render the whole mat- 
ter ridiculous, especially if she takes this 
flight before she commences to lay. About 
the year 1870, hundreds of bee-keepers were 
busily at work, trying this project with a 
view of keeping the Italian blood in a state 
of absolute purity, in neighborhoods where 
black or common bees were kept in consid- 
erable numbers ; and the subject affords a 
fair illustration of the mischief which may 
be done by careless or unscrupulous persons, 
in reporting through the press, what has 
been guessed at rather than demonstrated 
by careful experiment. 

Taking into view the in-and-in breeding 
that would have resulted had the experi- 
ments really been a success, it is doubtful if 
it would have been a benefit after all. 
When it was found that the Italians speedi- 



* Since the above was written the matter has been 
revived, and an account of at least a partial success, 
is given in the American Bee Journal for Nov., of 

1878. 



AKTIFICIAL HEAT. 



24 



AKTIFICIAL PASTURAGE. 



ly became hybrids where so many black bees 
were all about us, as a matter of necessity 
frequent importations from Italy began to 
be made ; and when it was discovered that 
stock fresh from their native home at once 
showed themselves superior as honey-gather- 
ers, the business assumed considerable pro- 
portions, and now almost every apiarist of 
50 hives has an imported queen of his own 
to rear queens from. This has the effect of 
not only giving us the best stock known, 
but of giving frequent fresh strains of blood, 
and is perhaps very much better all around, 
than it would have been had artificial fertil- 
ization been a success. 

ARTIFICIAL HEAT. As strong 
colonies early in the season are the ones 
that get the honey and furnish the early 
swarms as well, and are in fact the real 
source of profit to the bee-keeper, it is not 
to be wondered at that much time and mon- 
ey has been spent in devising ways and 
means whereby all might be brought up to 
the desired strength in time for the first 
yield of clover honey. As market gardeners 
and others hasten the early vegetables by 
artificial heat, or by taking advantage of the 
sun's rays by means of green-houses, etc., it 
would seem that something of the kind 
might be done with bees ; in fact, we have, 
by the aid of glass and the heat of a stove, 
succeeded in rearing young bees every 
month in the year, even while the weather 
was at zero or lower outside; but so far as 
we can learn, all artificial work of this kind 
has resulted in failure, so far as profit is 
concerned. The bees, it is true, learned to 
fly under the glass and come back to their 
hives ; but for every bee that was raised in 
confinement, two or three were sure to die, 
from one cause or another, and we at length 
decided it was best to wait for summer 
weather, and then take full advantage of it. 

Later, we made experiments with artifi- 
cial beat while the bees were allowed to fly 
out at pleasure ; and although it seemed at 
first to have just the desired effect, so far as 
hastening brood-rearing was concerned, the 
result was, in the end, just about as before ; 
more bees were hatched, but the unseasona- 
ble activity, or something else, killed off 
twice as many as were reared, and the stocks 
that were let alone in the good old way came 
out ahead. Since then we have rather en- 
deavored to check very early brood-rearing, 
and, we believe, with better results. 

A few experiments^ with artificial heat 
have apparently succeeded, and it may be 
that it wjll eventually he made a success ; 



but our impression is, that we had much 
better turn our energies to something else, 
until we have warm settled weather. Pack- 
ing the hives with chaff, sawdust, or any 
other warm, dry, porous material, so as to 
economize the natural heat of the cluster, 
seems to answer the purpose much better, 
and such treatment seems to have none of 
the objectionable features that working 
with artificial heat does. The chaff needs 
to be as'close to the bees as possible; and to 
this end, we would have all the combs re- 
moved except such as are needed to hold 
their stores. Bees thus prepared seem to 
escape all the] ill effects of frosty nights 
in the early part of the season, and we ac- 
complish for brood - rearing, exactly what 
was hoped for by the use of artificial heat. 

For the benefit of those who may be in- 
clined to experiment, I would state that I 
covered almost our entire apiary with 
manure, on the plan of a hot-bed, one spring, 
and had the satisfaction of seeing almost all 
die of spring dwindling. At another time, I 
kept the house-apiary warmed up to a sum- 
mer temperature with a large oil-lamp, for 
several weeks, just to have them beat those 
out of doors. The investment resulted in 
losing nearly all in the house-apiary with 
spring dwindling, while those outside stayed 
in their hives as honest bees should, until 
settled warm weather, and then did finely, 
just because I was "too busy to take care of 
them'" (?), as I then used to express it. Aft- 
er you have had experience enough to count 
your profitable colonies by'the hundred, and 
your crops of honey by the ton, it will do 
very well to experiment with green-houses 
and cold frames ; but beginners had better 
let such appliances alone, unless they have 
plenty of money to spare for more bees. 

ARTIFICIAL PASTURAGE. Al- 
though there is quite a trade springing up 
in seeds and plants to be cidtivated for their 
honey alone, and although we have about 
4000 young basswood - trees of our own, 
growing finely and promising to be the basis 
of a honey-farm at some future time, yet we 
can at present give little encouragement to 
those who expect to realize money by such 
investments. There is certainly a much 
greater need of taking care of the honey 
that is almost constantly wasting just for 
lack of bees to gather it. A field of buck- 
wheat will perhaps occasionally yield enough 
honey to pay the expense of sowing, as it 
comes in at a time when the bees in many 
places would get little else ; and if it does 
pot pay in honey, it certainly will in grain, 



ARTIFICIAL PASTURAGE. 2; 

If one has the money, and can afford to run 
the risk of a failure, it is a fine thing to 
make some accurate experiments, and it 
may be that a farm of one or two hundred 
acres, judiciously stocked with honey bear- 
ing plants, trees, and grains, would be a suc- 
cess financially. It has been much talked 
about, but none, so far as we know, have 
ever put the idea in practice. To beginners 
we would say : Plant and sow all you can 
that will be sure to pay aside from the hon- 
ey-crop, and then, if that is a success, you 
will be so much ahead ; but beware of in- 
vesting much in seeds that are for plants 
producing nothing of value except honey. 
Alsike, and white Dutch clover, buckwheat, 
rape, mustard, and the like, it will do to in- 
vest in ; but catnip, mignonnette, Rocky- 
mountain bee-plant, etc., etc., we would at 
present handle rather sparingly. It should 
be borne in mind that we can hardly test a 
plant, unless we have one or more acres of it 
in bloom, and that small patches do little 
more than to demonstrate that the blossoms 
contain some honey, giving us very little 
clue to either quantity or quality. Bees will 
work on blossoms, and at times with great 
apparent industry, when they are obliged to 
make hundreds of visits and consume hours 
of time, in getting a single load ; we there- 
fore should be intimately acquainted with 
the interior of the hive, as well as the 
source from which the bees are obtaining 
the honey, before we can decide what is 
profitable to sow as a honey-plant. 

By way of encouragement, we may say 
that both plants and trees, under thorough 
cultivation, yield honey in much larger 
quantities than those growing wild, or with- 
out attention. Our basswoods that have 
commenced to blossom, have shown a larger 
amount of honey in the nectaries than we 
ever saw in any that grew in the woods or 
fields. The question, "How many acres of a 
good honey-bearing plant would be needed 
to keep 100 colonies busy V" has often been 
asked. If ten acres of buckwheat would an- 
swer while in full bloom, we should need 
perhaps ten other similar fields sown with 
rape, mustard, catnip, etc., blossoming at as 
many different periods, to keep them going 
the entire warm season. It would seem 200 
acres should do nicely, even if nothing were 
obtained from other sources, but at present 
we can only conjecture. A colony of bees 
will frequently pay for themselves in ten 
days during a good yield from natural pas- 
turage; and if we could keep up this state of 
affairs during the whole of the summer 
months, it would be quite an item indeed. 



ARTIFICIAL SWARMING. 

Buckwheat, rape, and alsike clover, are the 
only cultivated plants that have given pay- 
ing crops of honey, without question, so far 
as we have been informed. See Honey- 
Plants in Index. 

ARTIFICIAL SWARMING. To 
attempt to give all the various plans and 
modifications that are recommended and 
practiced successfully, would make a book 
of itself ; we shall therefore only give those 
we think safest and simplest. 

If you are a new hand with bees, you had 
better not undertake to do such work until 
you find that bees are swarming naturally in 
the neighborhood. At such a time, you will 
probably succeed by almost any plan. If 
you have plenty of money and not much 
time, you had better buy your queens, and 
the dollar queens will do very well ; if you 
should get them killed, it will be no serious 
loss. If you also have plenty of empty 
combs, you can make an artificial swarm in 
a very few minutes, by simply moving any 
strong colony several rods away, and plac- 
ing a new hive filled with empty comb (or 
better, with one frame of hatching brood), in 
its place. That the returning bees may not 
kill the strange queen they find in place of 
their accustomed mother - bee, we protect 
her for a day or two in a cage. See 
Cages for Queens. As they enter with their 
loads of pollen and honey, they seem very 
much perplexed and astonished, scram- 
ble out of the hive, and after a few turns 
about the premises to reassure themselves, 
they go in again, repeating this until too 
tired, apparently, to bother their little heads 
any further with a matter that is altogether 
beyond their comprehension ; and wisely 
concluding that " what can't be cured must 
be endured," unload in the empty combs 
near the queen, and go after more spoils. 
We have had a colony of this description 
bring in over 20 lbs. of honey, during the 
first two days. Let the queen out after they 
get friendly to her— see Introduction of 
Queens— and your work is done. Should 
the colony get weak before the young bees 
begin to hatch out, give them a comb of 
hatching brood from some strong stock. 
This plan is only for the swarming season. 

COMBS OF HATCHING BROOD. 

As these combs of hatching brood 
are a very important item in building up, 
or strengthening stocks, and as we shall 
have need of referring to them often, we 
will explain that you are to look over the 
combs of a very populous colony and select 
one that has bees just gnawing through the 
caps of the cells. At the proper season, you 



ARTIFICIAL SWARMING. 



26 



ARTIFICIAL SWARMING. 



should find combs that will hatch out a doz- 
en bees while you are holding them in your 
hand ; it should contain little or no unsealed 
brood, for the new colony might not be able 
to feed all the larvae. One L. frame, if full 
of capped brood, will make a very fair swarm 
of bees ; and as these newly hatched downy 
bees— like newly hatched chickens for all 
the World— are ready to take up with any- 
body or any thing, we can put them safely 
anywhere without fear of their being hos- 
tile to either queens or workers. 

Can we not get along without the empty 
comb by using foundation in its stead V 
Yes, we can, but it is hardly advisable unless 
we can have two or three old combs to start 
with, or a, full hive of bees. 

If you prefer to rear your own queens, 
which every apiarist should do, move your 
colony as before ; but instead of the queen, 
give them a frame of eggs from your choicest 
queen. Now if you want fine queens, equal- 
ly as good as those reared in natural swarm- 
ing, be sure you do not give them any large 
larvae, with the eggs. The best and safest 
Way is to get an empty comb, place it in 
the center of your colony containing your im- 
ported or choice queen, and leave it there un- 
til you find eggs in it that are just hatching 
into larvae ; these larvae will be scarcely vis- 
ible to the naked eye when first hatched; but 
in place of the egg, you will see a tiny spot 
of the milky food that the nurse-bees place 
round the embryo bee. This is just the age 
you wish the larvae for queen-rearing, and 
you may take the frame, bees and all, if you 
are sure you are not carrying your old queen 
along— look sharp— to your new hive. If 
you want as many queen-cells as you can | 
get, it will be a good idea to cut an oblong 
piece out of the comb, just under the eggs j 
and larvae. If it is inconvenient to move ! 
your hive (as in the house-apiary) you can 
take only the combs with adhering bees, and 
in fact you need take only so many of the j 
combs as are necessary to get all the brood 
and the queen. 

In 12 days after the eggs are given the 
bees, the queens may some of them hatch; 
therefore, if you design saving the extra 
queens, you will need to remove all the cells 
but one, or the first-hatched queen will de- 
stroy them all. 10 We have had a young queen 
destroy as many as twenty fine cells in a sin- 
gle day, when we were so careless as to de- 
lay attending to them just at the right time. 
About 10 days after the queen hatches, you 
may expect her to begin to lay, and then you 
are as far along as when you purchase a 



laying queen to start with, except that your 
bees have been growing old all the time — see 
Age of Bees— and unless they are supplied 
with fresh eggs or brood, will be pretty 
weak before aliy young bees will be hatched 
to take their place. Now if you wish to 
have matters progress lively, you can give 
these bees a comb containing eggs every 
two or three days during the whole time 
they are waiting for the queen to be hatched 
and fertilized ; they will do much better if 
they are thus employed, and they will be 
quite a prosperous colony by the time the 
queen is ready to lay. To get these eggs, 
you have only to insert an empty comb in 
the center of a populous colony until the 
queen has deposited as many eggs in the 
cells as are required. 

So far, all is very simple. To swarm a 
large apiary, and at the same time Italianize 
all our new stocks, we would only have to 
repeat the process as many times as we 
have colonies. But how about the surplus 
queen-cells that we cut out ? This is just 
where the complication comes in ; yet if we 
look into the matter very carefully, we think 
it-will be found quite simple. These queen- 
cells, if cutout shortly before hatching, and 
inserted into the combs of any queenless 
colony, will usually furnish them a queen as 
soon as the one left where it was built ; and 
if an artificial colony was made at the time 
the cells were cut out, it is plain we should 
have them supplied about ten days earlier 
than the one that was obliged to start their 
cells from the egg. Bees usually seem to 
have a preference for building their own 
cells, instead of having them furnished ; but 
as they can by no possibility get a queen 
hatched in less than ten days — perhaps nine 
in extreme cases — the queen from the in- 
serted cell will be out and destroy the others 
almost as soon as they are started, and so 
we need be to no trouble to get all the un- 
desirable brood out of the way, as in our 
first experiment. Unfortunately, there is 
an if in the matter, and it is, if the bees do 
not destroy this cell you have given them, 
and proceed to raise one of their own in the 
good old way. Many contrivances have 
been invented to prevent them, such as cag- 
ing the cell, etc., but we think you will do 
well to waste no time in experimenting with 
such machinery. The lamp nursery ena- 
bles us to hatch almost any number of queen- 
cells with safety, but occasionally the queens 
are lost in introducing even then ; see Lamp 
Nursery. 

The plan we would recommend for begin- 



ARTIFICIAL SWARMIKG. 



27 



ASTERS. 



ners, and perhaps for everybody else as well, 
is to procure as many combs of hatching 
brood from different hives as you have queen- 
cells and to insert a cell in each ; the manner 
of inserting the cells will be found in 
Queen-Rearing. These combs are to be 
all put in the one hive in which the cells 
were built ; and if you have more than ten 
cells, put on an upper story, or even a third. 
As there are no bees in the hive except those 
that built the cells and the young ones just 
hatching, we shall have no cells torn down, 
and in a few hours they will have waxed 
them all firmly in their places. 

Kow with these combs of hatching brood, 
every one containing a cell nearly ready to 
hatch, we are in excellent trim to go on with 
artificial swarming. We can not only re- 
move hives and put empty ones in their 
places as in our first experiment, but we can 
take combs of bees and brood from any hive 
in the apiary, blacks, hybrids, or anything 
and put them into a new hive located any- 
where, put one of the frames with the queen- 
cell among them, and, presto ! we have a 
good colony, requiring no more care what- 
ever. Four combs of bees and brood will 
make a good colony at any time of the year, 
and they will be at work like an old colony 
in ten days. We have never known a cell 
destroyed when given to an artificial swarm in 
the manner we have stated. In substituting 
a new hive for an old one, we should, if pos- 
sible, use a new hive precisely like the old 
one, or much trouble may be found in get- 
ting the bees to go into it. If we can not do 
this, make it look at least like the old one. 

EMPTY COMBS FOB ARTIFICIAL SWARMING. 

These will almost always be on hand in 
swarming time ; but if not, a frame contain- 
ing a sheet of fdn. may be put in place of 
any comb taken from a strong colony. The 
fdn. is fully as good as the natural comb, 
and, in some respects, even better. If you 
have no fdn., let the bees build combs, one 
at a time, in new frames, watching them to 
see that they do not build drone-comb. If 
they will not build worker-comb, contract 
the space with a division - board, and have 
the combs built in weaker colonies. Using 
frames of fdn. is, however, far the better 
way. During fruit-blossoms, and long be- 
fore swarming time, an ample supply of 
beautiful combs may be secured, built out 
from foundation. 

Caution :— The foregoing directions are 
given generally for making artificial swarms 
during the swarming season, or, at least, at 
a time when honey is coming in abundant- 



ly. It will require more skill and more care 
to make artificial swarms in the fall, or at 
any time when the bees are disposed to rob; 
and if a hive is moved away, as directed, tbe 
new one must always have a comb contain- 
ing unsealed brood, as well as the empty 
combs, or the bees will not be certain to de- 
fend their hive against robbers. See Queen- 
Rearing. 

ASTE21S. Under this head we have a 
large class of autumn flowers, most of which 
are honey - bearing ; they may be distin- 
guished from the helianthus, or artichoke 
and sunflower family, by the color of the ray 
flowers. The ray flowers are the outer col- 
ored leaves of the flower, which stand out 
like rays ; in fact, the word aster means star, 
because these ray flowers stand out like the 
rays of a star. Many of the yellow autumn 
flowers are called asters, but this is an error ; 
for the asters are never yellow, except in 
the center. The outside, or rays, are blue, 
purple, or white. You may frequently find 
half a dozen different varieties growing al- 
most side by side. Where there are acres of ' 
them, so to speak, they sometimes yield 
considerable honey, but some seasons they 
seem to be unnoticed by the bees. I do not 
think it will pay to attempt to cultivate 
them for honey ; better move your bees to 
where they grow naturally, when you have 
determined by moving a single hive first, as 
a test, whether they are yielding honey in 
paying quantities. 




ASTER. 

Where the asters and goklenrod abound 
largely, it may be best to defer feeding un- 
til these plants have ceased to yield honey, 
say the last of September. 




F1JANK ];ENT()N's Al'IAKY. LARXACA, ISLAND OF CYPRUS, MEDrTEURANEAN SEA 



B. 



BARRELS. I would hardly advise 
using barrels for comb honey, although it is 
done to some extent, I believe, in districts 
where the old style of keeping bees in log 
gdms prevails; but for liquid honey, we 
shall probably never find a cheaper recep- 
tacle that will stand the rough usage of 
shipping honey, as well. It is true, we can 
put our honey in tin cans, but these are 
more expensive — the very cheapest costing 
at least one cent for every pound of honey 
they will contain— and they can not be ship- 
ped safely, without first being crated. Be- 
sides all this, a barrel of honey will be re- 
ceived at a much lower rate of freight than 
any other kind of package it is possible to 
make. If we are then all decided as to the 
expediency of storing our honey in barrels, 
we wish to decide upon the most profitable 
size for these barrels. The regular size of 
about 31 or 32 gallons is probably the cheap- 
est size, but it has been objected to on ac- 
count of the difficulty of handling so great 
a weight as 3£0 to 400 lbs., which the barrel 
and all would weigh. This, however, is no 
great objection to one who knows how to 
'"take the advantage" of a barrel, as my 
father used to express it to " us boys," when 
we were loading stone, and as economy of 
money as well as " traps " is quite an item 
where we have tons of honey, I think we had 
better have large barrels principally. For 
the accommodation of customers who want a 
smaller quantity, it may be well to have 
some half-barrels also, but these will cost 
considerably more, in proportion to the 
amount of honey they hold. Some very neat 
small ones, holding about 140 lbs., cost about 
$1.75 each ; this would be at the rate of He. 
per lb. - Our large barrels cost us $2.25, and 
hold about 350 lbs. ; this is less than f c. per 
lb. for the package. From this it appears 
that we shall have to charge a little more 
for honey put up in half-barrel packages. 

LEAKY BARRELS. 

I hope you will feel as I do about it, that 
it is bad enough to talk about having honey 



j leak all round, without having any practical 

experience in the matter ; and I am very 

I glad to be able to tell you how to entirely 

I avoid it. It may be well to remark, that 

i honey has a funny way of expanding during 

! the candying process — it will generally 

candy as soon as the weather gets cold — and 

if your barrels or cans do not give it room 

to expand, it will be pretty sure to push out 

the corks or bungs. Some kinds of honey 

expand more than others; and under some 

circumstances, perfectly ripened honey will 

scarcely candy at all. If the barrels are left 

! not quite full, and then filled up completely 

when ready to ship, there will be very little 

i trouble. 

We prefer barrels made of sound oak, but 
I presume those made of other strong wood 
, will answer, if carefully waxed as we shall 
direct. The hoops should be of strong hoop 
iron, for honey is very heavy compared with 
most other liquids, and we wish them to 
stand safely the rough handling they are 
: likely to receive on the cars, even if they 
should be sent back and forth several times. 
The hoops should be secured by large tacks, 
if they show any tendency to slip. If you 
have had the barrels made for your own use 
and intend them to be returned when you 
sell honey, it is a very good idea to have 
them neatly painted. This will keep the 
hoops in place, and will preserve the barrels 
very materially. There is one objection to 
this, however, and that is, you are many 
times under the necessity of waiting for 
your barrels to be emptied, and then they 
are likely to be forgotten. We once waited 
two years for some we had sent away with 
honey, and then succeeded in getting the 
pay for them instead of the barrels, after 
much importunity. 

WAXING THE BARRELS TO PREVENT 
LEAKING. 

A good barrel, carefully made of well-sea- 
soned timber, should not leak, without any 
waxing; but as they often do, we think it 
safest to have them all waxed. This is sim- 



BARBELS, 



30 



BASS WOOD. 



ply coating the entire inside with wax or 
paraffine. The latter we consider better, as 
well as cheaper. Wax is worth from 30 to 
40c. per lb., but the paraffine can be had for 
25c. As the latter melts at a lower tempera- 
ture, and is more limpid when melted, a 
much less quantity is needed to coat the in- 
side thoroughly and fill all cracks and inter- 
stices, and less skill and expedition is needed 
in its manipulation. You should have about 
a gallon of the melted liquid, for a small 
quantity will not keep hot until you can 
pour out the remainder after the waxing is 
done, and too much of it will adhere to the 
inside of the barrel. Ten or 12 lbs. will do very 
well. Have your bungs nicely fitted, and 
a good hammer in readiness to get the bung 
out quickly. With a large-mouthed tunnel, 
pour in the hot liquid, and bung it up at 
once. Now roll the barrel so as to have the 
wax go entirely round it, then twirl it on 
each ^iead, and give it another spinning so 
as to cover perfectly all round the chime. 
This operation will have warmed the air in- 
side to such an extent that the liquid will 
be forced into every crevice; and if there is 
a poor spot, you will hear the air hissing, as 
it forces the liquid through it. Just as 
quickly as yon get the inside covered, loosen 
the bung with your hammer; and if your 
work is well done, the bung will be thrown 
into the air with a report. Pour out the re- 
maining liquid, warm it up, and go on with 
the lest. If the weather is cool, you had 
better put your barrel in the sun, turning it 
frequently and driving down the hoops, be- 
fore you pour in the wax. This is to save 
your material; for if the barrel is cold, it 
will take a much heavier coating ; and the 
main thing is simply to close all crevices. 
For honey in quantities of less than 100 lbs., 
perhaps tin cans will be handier than barrels 
or kegs, for they can then be shipped short 
distances as freight, without crating. See 
Extracted Honey. 

Good thick honey will usually become sol- 
id at the approach of frosty weather, and 
perhaps the readiest means of getting it out 
of the barrel in such cases is to remove one 
of the heads, and take it out with a scoop. 
If it is quite hard, you may at first think it 
quite difficult to get a scoop down into it; 
but if you press steadily, and keep moving 
the scoop slightly, you will soon get down 
its w r hole depth. If the barrel is kept for 
some time near the stove, or in a very warm 
room, the honey will become liquid enough 
tobe drawn out through ac large-sized honey- 
gate. After the head of a barrel has been 



| taken out, the barrel should be waxed again 
before using, around the head that has been 
removed. Get out all the honey you can, by 
: warming and allowing it to drain, and then 
with a tea-kettle of warm water, clean off 
every particle of honey. The rinsings may 
be saved and fed to the bees that there be no 
waste, or used for vinegar. See Vinegar. As 
barrels are apt to get musty, or give the hon- 
ey a taste, I would advise washing and light- 
ly coating them eyery season, before being 
used again. After having been once coated, 
a very small quantity of paraffine will answer 
perfectly, the second time. I should have no 
hesitation in using any kind of a barrel for 
honey, if it were first scalded, allowed to dry 
thoroughly, and then perfectly coated witli 
paraffine. If the barrel is dry and warm, or 
slightly hot, there will never be any danger 
of its cleaving from the wood, as wax some- 
times does. Paraffine has neither taste nor 
smell, and does not decay as w^ax does, when 
exposed to dampness or the action of liquids. 

Caution:— A mixture of wax and rosin 
was at one time used for coating barrels, 
and after giving it, as I thought, a thorough 
test, I used it for a whole crop of honey. 
The result was that the honey tasted of ros- 
in after being in the barrels over winter, and 
it was sold at 10 c. when it would otherwise 
have brought 15c. This is quite a serious 
matter, as some of the journals seem to be 
still recommending the rosin. 

BASSWOOD. With perhaps the single 
exception of white clover, the basswood, or 
linden, as it is often called, furnishes more 
honey than any other one plant or tree 
known. It is true, that it does not yield 
honey every season, but what plant or tree 
does? 11 It occasionally gives us such an im- 
mense flood of honey that we can afford to 
wait a season or two, if need be, rather than 
depend on sources that yield more regularly, 
yet in much smaller amounts. If a bee- 
keeper is content to wait — say ten or fifteen 
years for the realization of his hopes, or if 
he has an interest in providing for the bee- 
keepers of a future generation, it will pay 
him to plant basswoods. A tree that was 
set out just about 10 years ago, on one of our 
streets, now furnishes a profusion of blos- 
soms, almost every year ; and from the way 
the bees work on them, I should judge it 
furnished considerable honey. A hundred 
such trees in the vicinity of an apiary would 
be, without doubt, of great value. See Ar- 
tificial Pasturage. Our 4000 trees were 
planted in the spring of 1872, and are now — 
1877 — many of them bearing fair loads of 



BASSWOOD. 



31 



BEE-DRESS. 



blossoms. We made some experiments with 
bass wood seeds, but they proved mostly 
failures, as have nearly all similar ones we 
have heard from. By far the best and cheap- 
est way is to get small trees from the forest. 
These can be obtained in almost any quan- 
tity, from any piece of woodland from which 
stock have been excluded. Cattle feed upon 
the young basswoods with great avidity, 
and pasturing our woodlands is eventually 
going to cut short the young growth of these 
trees from our forests, as well as of many 
others that are valuable. We planted trees 
all the way from one to ten feet in height. 
The larger ones have, as a general rule, done 
best. 







AMERICAN LINDEN, OR BASSWOOD. 12 

( Tilia Americana . ) 
The above will enable any one to at once 
distinguish the basswood when seen. The 
clusters of little balls with their peculiar leaf 
attached to the seed - stems are to be seen 
hanging from the branches the greater part 
of the summer, and the appearance, both be- 
fore and after blossoming, is pretty much 
the same. The blossoms are small, of a light 



yellow color, and rather pretty ; the honey is 
secreted in the inner side of the thick fleshy 
petals. When it is profuse it will sparkle 
like dewdrops, as shown at A, if a cluster 
of blossoms is held up to the sunlight. 

Basswood, and perhaps most other forest- 
trees, require shade, especially when young ; 
and, much to our surprise, some that were 
planted directly under some large white-oak 
trees, have done better than any of the rest. 
Who has not noticed exceedingly thrifty 
basswoods growing in the midst of a clump 
of briers and bushes of all sorts V I would 
place the trees not more than 12 feet apart, 
for it is an easy matter to thin them out 
whenever they are found too close. A 
neighbor has planted basswoods entirely 
round his farm on the road-sides, and they 
add much to the comfort of travelers, are 
pretty to the sight, and, without doubt, will 
furnish honey enough, in time, to pay all ex- 
penses. 

The best yield of honey we have ever had 
from a single hive, in one day, was from the 
basswood bloom ; the amount was 43 lbs. in 
three days. 13 The best we ever recorded from 
clover was 10 lbs. in one day. The honey 
from the basswood has a strong, aromatic 
or mint flavor, and we can tell when the 
blossoms are out, by the perfume about the 
hives. The taste of the honey also indi- 
cates to the apiarist the very day the bees 
commence work on it. The honey, if ex- 
tracted before it is sealed over, when it is 
coming in rapidly, has the distinctive flavor 
so strong as to be very disagreeable to some 
persons. My wife likens it to the smell and 
taste of turpentine or camphor, and very 
much dislikes it, when just gathered; but 
when sealed over and fully ripened in the 
hive, she thinks it delicious, as does almost 
every person. 

BEE-BREAD. A term in common use , 
applied to pollen when stored in the combs. 
In olden times, when bees were killed with 
sulphur to get at the honey, more or less 
pollen was usually found mixed with the 
honey ; it has something of a "bready" taste, 
and hence, probably, has its name. 
Since the advent of the extractor, and sec- 
tion boxes, it is very rare to find pollen in 
the honey designed for table use. See 
Pollen. 

BEE-BRESS. Before the advent of 
the Italians, and the convenient smokers we 
now have, it was thought best to have a dress, 
or sort of " jacket," attached to the veil, 
with sleeves for the protection of the op- 
erator, while working among the hives. 



J3EE-DRESS. 



BEE-HUNTING. 



Such things are now, I believe, almost out of 
date, with the exception of veils, and the 
gloves Lhat are used to some extent. The 
veils, without doubt, are often useful; 
but I am so well satisfied that even a begin- 
ner will get along better, and with less 
stings, with his bare hands than with any 
kind of gloves, that I have no hesitation in 
advising him to have nothing to do with 
them. Have your smoker in good trim, and 
there is hardly a necessity of your being 
stung at all. "While I can not think it best to 
advise a dress particularly for bee-work, I 
feel that it is a very wise precaution to have 
your ordinary attire of such a nature that 
bees may not get under the clothing ; many 
severe stings are received in this way, from 
bees having no ill will at all, but only sting- 
ing because pressed by the clothing. When 
bees are shaken or dropped off the combs, 
they are very apt to crawl up one's feet, and 
I know of few tilings more annoying than 
the sensation of a, bee crawling up one's leg 
when he is too busy to stop and stamp until 
it drops out of its unpleasant (to all par- 
ties concerned) lodging-place, or stings and 
has it done with, as lie is pretty sure to do if 
you are not careful. If you wear flannels, 
and have them tucked inside your stockings, 
this cannot happen ; or if you wear boots and 
have your pants tucked in your boot-tops, 
you are bee-proof in this respect. I prefer 
low shoes in the summer, and light cloth- 
ing for out-door work; and when I am going 
to shake bees off the frames, I always put 
my pant-legs inside my stockings, even at 
the risk of being stared at by visitors. If 
you are obliged to handle bees in cool weath- 
er, or so late in the day that they have ceased 
flying, they are very apt to crawl under your 
coat or vest, and sometimes up your sleeves. 
1 do not mind the stings so much as the time 
it takes to get them out; and I dislike to 
run any risk of carrying them into the pres- 
ence of others, who may not be so indiffer- 
ent to stings as I am. Some years ago I 
wore shirts that buttoned up in front, and 
the hybrids seemed especially fond of get- 
ting inside my shirt whenever I particularly 
desired them outside. I am not partial to 
new fashions in clothing; and when my wife 
made a shirt that buttoned down the back, 
she rather expected a sermon on the folly of 
—well, she heard, in place of objections, a 
declaration that I would never wear any 
other, because they were bee-proof. For the 
same reason, I prefer the sleeves close at the 
wrist, and my whole clothing, in general, so 
close and free from openings that a bee can 



crawl up my shoes, and go clear to the top 
of my head and fly off, without any trouble 
to either himself or myself, on the principle 
of " Live and let live." 

When at work among the hives, if bees 
are scattered about on the ground I am 
always careful about stepping on them, or 
so near that they may crawl up my person ; 
and nothing makes me more nervous than 
to have visitors who will walk right among 
them with their careless feet, crushing them 
into the dust. If it were right to return evil 
for evil, I should sometimes think it was 
good enough for them, if they did get a 
sting or two. The natural home of the honey- 
bee is the forest; and if they consent to take 
up their abode on the ground at our very 
doors, we certainly should forbear stepping 
on them when we pay them a visit. 

I have said nothing about the attire of la- 
dies who work in the apiary, but I presume 
I have given them a sufficient idea of what 
is needed, to enable them to so arrange their 
clothing as to avoid stings as much as pos- 
sible. When bees are coming in heavily la- 
den, we should all have respect enough for 
them, to avoid standing in front of their 
hives, or walking very near to theirentranc- 
es. If they are scattered about on the 
ground, step around them, and there will be 
very little danger of the stings that we often 
hear of, because a bee becomes accidentally 
entangled in the clothing. See Veils. 

BEE HUNTING-. I have warned you 
so often, my friends, against leaving sweets 
of any kind about the apiary, and about be- 
ing careful not to let the bees get to robbing 
each other, that it may seem a little queer, 
to be directed how best to encourage and de- 
velop this very robbing propensity in these 
little friends of ours. 

The only season in which we can trap bees 
is when they will rob briskly at home ; for 
when honey is to. be found in the flowers in 
plenty, they will hardly deign to notice our 
bait of even honey in the comb. Before 
starting out, it will be policy to inform your- 
self of all the bees kept in the vicinity, for 
you might otherwise waste much time in 
following lines that lead into the hives of 
your neighbors. You should be at least a 
mile from any one who has a hive of bees 
when you commence operations, and it were 
safer to be two miles. I do not mean by 
this to say that there are no bee-trees near 
large apiaries, for a number have been found 
within half a mile of our own, and an expe- 
rienced hand would have but little trouble in 
finding more, in all probability ; but those 



BEE-HUNTING. 



33 



BEE-HUNTING. 



who are just learning, would be very likely 
to get very much perplexed and bothered by 
domesticated bees mixing with the wild 
ones. 

Perhaps the readiest means of getting a 
line started is to catch the bees that will be 
found on the flowers, especially in the early 
part of the day. Get them to take a sip of 
the honey you have brought for the purpose, 
and they will, true to their instinctive love 
of gain, speed themselves home with their 
load, soon to return for another. To find 
the tree, you have only to watch and see 
where they go. Very simple, is it not? It 
certainly is on paper, but it usually involves 
a deal of hard work, when carried out in 
practice. You can get along with very sim- 
ple implements; but if your time is valuable, 
it may pay to go out fully equipped. For 
instance, a small glass tumbler will answer 
to catch bees with; and after you have caught 
one, you can set the glass over a piece of 
honey-comb. Now cover it with your hand- 
kerchief to stop his buzzing against the 
glass, and he will soon discover the honey, 
and "load up." Keep your eye on him, and 
as soon as he is really at work at the honey, 
gently raise the glass and creep away, where 
you may get a good view of proceedings. 
As soon as he takes wing, he will circle 
about the honey, as a young bee does in 
front of the hive, that he may know the spot 
when he comes back ; for a whole " chunk" 
of honey, during the dry autumn days, is 
quite a little gold-mine in his estimation. 
There may be a thousand or more hungry 
mouths to feed, away out in the forest in his 
leafy home, for aught we know. 

If you are quick enough to keep track of 
his eccentric circles and oscillations, you will 
see that his circles become larger and larger, 
and that eacli time he comes round, he sways 
to one side ; that is, instead of making the 
honey the center of his circles, he makes it 
almost on one edge, so that the last few times 
he comes round he simply comes back after 
he has started home, and throws a loop, as 
it were, about the honey to make sure of it 
for the last time. Now you can be pretty 
sure which way his home lies almost the 
very first circuit he makes, for he has his 
home in mind all the time, and bears more 
and more toward it. 

If you can keep your eye on him until he 
finally takes the u bee-line " for home, you 
do pretty well, for a new hand can seldom do 
this. After he is out of sight, you have only 
to wait until he comes back, which he surely 
will do, if honey is sparce. Of course, if hjs 



home is near by, he will get back soon ; and 
to determine how far it is, by the length of 
time he is gone, brings in another very im- 
portant point. The honey that the bees get 
from the flowers is very thin ; in fact, it is 
nearer sweetened water than honey, and 
if we wish a bee to load up and fly at about 
a natural" gait," we should give him honey 
diluted with water to about this consistency. 
Unless you do, he will not only take a great 
deal more time in loading up, but the thick 
honey is so much heavier he will very likely 
stagger under the load, and make a very 
crooked bee-line of his homeward path. Be- 
sides, he will take much more time to unload. 
Sometimes, after circling about quite a time, 
he will stop to take breath before going 
home, which is apt to mislead the hunter, 
unless he is experienced ; all this is avoided 
by filling your honey-comb with honey and 
water, instead of the honey as we usually 
find it. 

Now, it takes quite a little time to get a 
bee caught and started in the Avork; and 
that we may be busy, we will have several 
bees started at the same time ; and to do this 
expeditiously, we will use a bee hunting-box 
made as in the following cut. 




BOX FOR BEE-HUNTING. 

This is simply a light box about ±1 inches 
square ; the bottom is left open, and the top 
is closed with a sheet of glass that slides ea- 
sily in saw-cuts made near the upper edge. 
About a half-inch below the glass is a small 
feeder, quite similar to the one figured in 
Feeding and Feeders. 

how to use the hunting-box. 

Take with your box about a pint of diluted 
honey in a bottle. If you fill the bottle half 
full of thick honey, and then fill it up with 
warm water, you will have it about right. In 
the fall of the year, you will be more likely 
to find bees on the flowers in the early part 
of the day. When you get on the ground, 



BEE-HUNTING. 



34 



BEE-HUNTING. 



near some forest, where you suspect the 
presence of wild bees, pour a little of your 
honey into the feeder, and cautiously set the 
box over the first bee you find upon the 
flowers. As soon as the box is well over the 
flower, close the bottom with your hand, 
and he will soon buzz up against the glass. 
Catch as many as you wish, in the same way, 
and they will soon be sipping the honey. 
Before any have filled themselves, ready to 
fly, set your box on some elevated point, 
such as the top of a stump in an open space 
in the field, and draw back the glass slide. 
Stoop down now, and be ready to keep your 
eye on him, whichever way he may turn. If 
you keep your head low, you will be more 
likely to have the sky as a background. If 
you fail in following one, you must try the 
next, and as soon as you get a sure line on 
one, as lie bears finally for home, be sure to 
mark it by some object that you can remem- 
ber. If you are curious to know how long 
they are gone, you can, with some white 
paint in a little vial, and a pencil-brush, 
mark one of them on the back. This is quite 
a help where you have two or more lines 
working from the same bait. When a bee 
comes back, you will recognize him by the 
peculiar inquiring hum, like robbers in front 
of a hive where they have once had a taste 
of spoils. If the tree is near by, each one 
will bring others along in his wake, and soon 
your box will be humming with a throng so 
eager that a further filling of the feeder from 
the bottle will be needed. As soon as you 
are pretty well satisfied in which direction 
they are located, you can close the glass slide 
and move along on the line, near to the 
woods. Open the box, and you will soon 
have them just as busy, again ; mark the 
line and move again, and you will very soon 
follow them to their home. To aid you in 
deciding just where they are, you can move 
off to one side and start a cross line. Of 
course, the tree will be found just where 
these lines meet ; when you get about where 
you think they should be, examine the trees 
carefully, especially all the knot-holes, or 
any place that might allow bees to enter and 
find a cavity. If you place yourself so that 
the bees will be between you and the sun, 
you can see them plainly, even if they are 
among the highest branches. Remember you 
are to make a careful and minute examin- 
ation of every tree, little and big, body and 
limbs, even if it does make your neck ache. 
It is a good thing to look up once in a while, 
just as it is a good thing to go out into the 
woods, and get a view of outside things 



generally, now and then. If you do not find 
them by carefully looking the trees over, go 
back and get your hunting-box, bring it up 
to the spot, and give them" feed " until you 
get a quart or more at work. You can then 
see pretty clearly where they go. If you do 
not find them the first day, you can readily 
start them again almost any time, for they 
are very quick to start, when they have once 
been at work, even though it is several days 
afterward. 

Bees are sometimes started by burning 
what is called a "smudge." Get some old 
bits of comb containing bee-bread as well 
as honey, and burn them on a small tin plate, 
by setting it over a little fire. The bees will 
be attracted by the odor of the burning honey 
and comb, and, if near, will sometimes come 
in great numbers. Oil of anise is sometimes 
used, to attract them by its strong odor. We 
have had the best success in getting them 
from the flowers as we have directed. 

A spy-glass is very convenient in finding 
where the bees go in, especially if the tree is 
very tall ; even the toy spy-glasses sold for 
50c. or a dollar, are sometimes quite a help. 
The most serviceable, however, are the ach- 
romatic glasses that cost about $3.00. The 
very best thing for the purpose is an opera 
glass such as can be purchased for about 
$5.00. With these we can use both eyes, and 
the field is so broad that no time is lost in 
getting the glass instantly on the spot. We 
can, in fact, see bees with them in the tops 
of the tallest trees, almost as clearly as we 
can see them going into hives placed on the 
ground. They can also be used to follow a 
bee on the wing, as he leaves the hunting- 
box. If one's time is valuable, an opera- 
glass will be a very good investment. 

After you have found the tree, I presume 
you will be in a hurry to get the bees that 
you know are there, and the honey that may 
be there. Do not fix your expectations too 
high, for you may not get a single pound of 
the latter. Of two trees that we have recent- 
ly taken, one contained just about as much 
honey as we had fed them, and the other 
contained not one visiblejcell] full ! The 
former were fair hybrids, and the latter Avell- 
marked Italians. If the tree] is]"not a valu- 
able one, and stands where timber is cheap 
and plentiful, perhaps the easiest way may be 
to cut it down. This may result in a mashed- 
up heap of ruins, with combs, honey, and bees 
all mixed up with dirt and rubbish, or it may 
fall so as to strike on the limbs or small 
trees, and thus ease its fall in such a way as 
to do very little injury to the hive of the 



BEE-HUNTING. 



35 



BEE-HUNTING. 



forest. The chances are rather in favor of 
the former, and on many accounts it is safer 
to climb the tree and let the bee-hive down 
with a rope. If the hollow is in the body of 
the tree, or so situated that it can not be cut 
off above and below, the combs may be taken 
out and let down in a pail or basket ; for the 
brood-combs, and such as contain but little 
honey, the basket will be rather preferable. 
The first thing, however, will be to climb the 
tree ; and as I should be very sorry to give 
any advice in my ABC book that might in 
any way lead to loss of life, I will, at the out- 
set, ask you not to attempt climbing unless 
you are, or can be, a very careful person. An 
old gentleman who has just been out with 
us remarked that he once knew a very ex- 
pert climber who took all the bees out of the 
trees for miles around, but was finally killed 
instantly, by letting his hands slip, as he was 
getting above a large knot in the tree. We 
do not wish to run any risks, where human 
life is at stake. 

For climbing large trees, a pair of climbers 
are used, such as is shown in the following 
cut. 




CLIMBERS FOR BEE-HUNTERS. 

The iron part is made of a bar 18 inches 
long,! wide byi thick. At the lower end it 
is bent to accommodate the foot as shown, 
and the spurs are made of the best steel, 
carefully aud safely welded on. These 
points should be sharp, and somewhat chisel- 
shaped, that they may be struck safely into 
the wood of the tree ; the straps will be 
readily understood by inspection. When in 
use, the ring A is slipped over the spur B, 
and the straps are both buckled up safely. 
If the tree is very large, the climber provides 
himself with a tough withe or whip, of some 
tough green bough, and bends this so it will 
go around the trunk, while an end is held in 
either hand. As he climbs upward, this is 



hitched up the trunk. If he keeps a sure 
and firm hold on this whip, and strikes his 
feet into the trunk firmly, he can go up the 
most forbidding trees, rapidly and safely. 
A light line, a clothes - line for instance, 
should be tied around his waist, that he may 
draw up such tools as he may need. The 
tools needed are a sharp ax, hatchet, saw, 
and an auger to bore in to see how far the 
hollow extends. If the bees are to be saved, 
the limb or tree should be cut off above the 
hollow, and allowed to fall. A stout rope 
may be then tied about the log hive, passed 
over some limb above, the end brought down 
and wrapped about a tree until the hive is 
cut off ready to lower. When it is down, 
let it stand an hour or two, or until sundown, 
when all the bees will have found and en- 
tered the hive. Cover the entrance with 
wire cloth, and take it home. 

If you want only the honey, and do not 
care for the bees, you can slab off one side 
of the hollow, cut out the combs, and let 
them down in pails. The bees can very oft- 
en be saved in this way, as well as the for- 
mer. Fix the brood - combs about the right 
distance apart, in a pail or basket ; the bees 
will in time collect about them, and may 
then, toward dark, be carried safely home. 
Many bee-hunters brimstone the bees ; but I 
am so averse to any such method of killing 
bees, that I have not even the patience to 
describe it. Sometimes the hollow is below 
the limbs; in this case, the climber passes a 
surcingle about him, under his arms, around 
the tree, and in this position chops the bees 
out. I have said nothing about smoke or 
veils; for so far as my experience goes, none 
seem to be needed. The bees become so 
frightened by the chopping, that they are 
perfectly conquered, and cease entirely to 
act on the offensive. It may be well to have 
some smoking rotten wood near, and a bel- 
lows smoker would be very convenient to 
drive the bees out of the way, many times. 

After you have got them down where the 
combs can be reached, the usual directions 
for transferring are to be followed. A bee- 
keeper who has a taste for rustic work, 
might set the log up in his apiary, just to 
show the contrast between the old style of 
bee-keeping and the new. Some very inter- 
esting facts are to be picked up in bee-hunt- 
ing. One of the trees we cut recently con- 
tained comb as much as a yard long, and not 
more than 8 inches wide in the widest part. 
It has been said, that bees in a state of na- 
ture select cavities best adapted to their 
needs. I am inclined to think this very poor 



BEE-HUNTING. 



36 



BEE-MOTH. 



reasoning. If a farmer allowed nature to 
take care of his corn-fields, he would get a 
very poor crop ; and from what I have seen 
of bee-trees, I should judge the poor fellows 
need to be taken care of, almost as much as 
the corn. We frequently get 100 lbs. of 
comb from a hive, but I never knew a bee 
tree to give any such amount, as the product 
of a single season. We sometimes find quite 
a quantity of honey in a tree, it is true ; but 
it is usually old honey, and often the accu- 
mulation of several years. 

There are more bees in the woods than we 
perhaps have any idea of, especially in the 
neighborhood of considerable apiaries. In 
one of my first trials at bee-hunting I started 
a fine line, directly toward the woods, but I 
looked in vain for bees, after going into 
them, and finally gave it up. A lew days 
afterward I got an old hand at the business 
to hunt them np for me, and he almost at 
once pointed out a tree plainly visible from 
where they were baited, standing in the open 
lot. As the tree contained very thick old 
honey, it had probably stood there unnoticed 
for years, and yet it was in plain sight. 
The same hunter vt ry soon found another, 
but a little distance from this one. And 
within a few days we have found two more 
in that same locality. Since these two have 
been carried away and domesticated in our 
apiary, we find the Italians apparently just 
as thick on the wild flowers as they were 
before, indicating that there are more trees 
in the same vicinity. 

DOES HEK-inXTIXG PAY? 

If you can earn a dollar per day at some 
steady employment, I do not think it would. 
as a rule ; but there are doubtless localities 
where an expert would make it pay well, in 
the fall of the year. With the facilities we 
now have for rearing bees, a bee-keeper 
would stock an apiary much quicker by 
rearing the bees, than he would by bringing 
them home from the woods, and transfer- 
ring. In the former case he would have 
nice straight combs, especially if he used 
the fdn., but the combs from the woods 
would require a great amount of fussing 
with, and they would never be nearly as nice 
as those built on the fdn., even then. So 
much by way of discouragement. On the 
other hand, a ramble in the woods, such as 
bee - hunting furnishes, is one of the most 
healthful forms of recreation that I know 
of; and it gives one a chance to study, not 
only the habits of the bees, but the flowers 
as well; for in hunting for a bee to start 
with, we find many plants thatave curious 



and many that we would not otherwise 
know they frequented. In our recent trips 
we were astonished to find the Simpson 
honey-plant, of which so much has been said 
in our journals recently, growing in our own 
neighborhood, and we saw the bees drinking 
the sweet water out of the little hollow balls, 
or rather pitcher-shaped blossoms. Again, 
climbing and taking the bees out of one of 
the monarchs of the forest, is really one of 
the fine arts, if done safely ; and I feel like 
taking off my hat in deference to the one 
who does the work nicely, something as I 
would to a renowned doctor or lawyer, or an 
expert mechanic. 

NEVER QUARREL ABOUT BEE-TKEES. 

When you have found your tree, go at 
once to the owner of the land, ami get per- 
mission to take your bees. No matter what 
the law allows, do nothing in his absence 
you would not do if he were standing by, 
and do your work with as clear a conscience 
as you would work in your own bee-yard. 
Many quarrels and disagreements and much 
hard feeling have been. engendered by cut- 
ting bee-trees. If I am correctly informed, 
bees are the property of whoever finds them 
first ; and on this account it is customary to 
cut the initials of the finder, with the date, 
in the body of the tree; but you have no 
more right to cut the owner's timber with- 
out permission than you have to cut his corn. 
I have never found any one inclined to with- 
hold consent, when they were politely asked 
for permission to get our bees out of the 
trees. I do not wonder that people feel 
cross when their timber is mutilated by rov- 
ing idlers, and I can scarcely blame them 
for giving a wholesome lesson now and then 
just to remind us that we have laws in our 
country for their protection. I hope my 
readers will have no disposition to trespass 
on the premises or rights of any one, with- 
out permission. The most difficult and par- 
ticular person in your neighborhood will, in 
all probability, be found pleasant and ac- 
commodating, if you go to him in a pleasant 
and neighborly way. 

BEE-MOTH. It is very likely that 
the moth worm is, as has been so often stat- 
ed, the worst enemy the honey - bee has — if 
we except ignorant bee-keepers— but if 
such is the case, we can consider ourselves 
very fortunate, for the moth is almost no 
enemy at all, to one who is well posted and 
up with the times. When you hear a person 
complaining that the moth-worm killed his 
bees, you can set him down at once as 
knowing very little about bees ; and if a 



BEE-MOTH. 



37 



BEE-MOTH. 



hive is offered you that has an attachment 
or trap to catch or kill moths, you can set 
the vender down as a vagabond and swind- 
ler. You can scarcely plead ignorance for 
him; for a man who will take upon himself 
the responsibility of introducing hives, 
without knowing something of our modern 
books and bee-journals, should receive treat- 
ment sufficiently rough to send him home, 
or into some business he understands. 

"When a colony gets weakened so much 
that it can not cover and protect its combs, 
robbers and moth- worms help themselves as 
a natural consequence, but either rarely do 
any harm if there is plenty of bees, and a 
clean tight hive. If a hive is so made that 
there are crevices which will admit a worm, 
and not allow a bee to go after him, it may 
make some trouble in almost any colony ; 
and I can not remember that I ever saw a 
patented moth-proof hive that was not 
much worse in this respect than a plain sim- 
ple box hive. A plain simple box is, in fact, 
all we want for a hive ; but as we must have 
the combs removable, we must have frames 
to hold them ; and if these frames are made 
so that bees can get all round and about 
them, we have done all we can to make a 
moth-proof hive. 

Of course, colonies will at times get weak- 
ened ; and with the best of care, with the 
common bees especially, worms will some- 
times be found in the combs. Now if you 
have the simple hive I shall recommend, 
you can very quickly take out the combs, 
and with the point of your knife remove 
every web and worm, scrape off the debris, 
and assist the bees very much. If there is 
an accumulation of . filth on the bottom- 
board, lift out all the combs, and brush it 
all off, and be sure you crush all the worms 
in this tilth, for they will crawl right back 
into the hive, if carelessly thrown on the 
ground. 

If you keep only Italians, or even all hy- 
brids, you may go over a hundred colonies 
and not find a single trace of a moth-worm. 
At the very low price at which Italian 
queens are now to be purchased, it would 
seem that we are very soon to forget that a 
bee-moth ever existed ; and the readiest way 
I know of to get combs that are badly infest- 
ed, free from worms, is to hang them, one 
at a time, in the center of a full hive of Ital- 
ians. You will find all the webs and worms 
strewed around the entrance of the hive, in 
a couple of hours, and the comb cleaned up 
nicer than you could do it, if you were to 
sit down all day to the task. 



HOW TO KEEP EMPTY COMBS SECURE FROM 
THE MOTH-WORMS. 

If you have Italians only, you may have 
no trouble at all, without using any precau- 
tion ; but if there are black bees around you, 
kept in the old-fashioned way, or in "patent 
hives," you will be very apt to have trouble, 
unless you "look out." Suppose, for in- 
stance, you take a comb away from the bees 
during the summer months, and leave it in 
your honey-house several days ; if the weath- 
er is warm, you may find it literally infested 
with small worms, and in a few days more 
the comb will be entirely destroyed. Combs 
partly filled with pollen seem to be the es- 
pecial preference of these greedy, filthy-look- 
ing pests, and I have sometimes thought 
they would do but little harm, were it not 
for the pollen they find to feed on. A few 
years ago we used to have the same trouble 
with comb honey when taken from the hive 
during the early part of the season ; but of 
late we have had less and less of it; and the 
present season— 1877— I have scarcely seen a 
moth-worm in our comb honey at all, and 
we have not once fumigated our honey- 
house. I ascribe it to the increase of the 
Italians in our own apiary, and those all 
about us, for the greater part of the bees in 
the woods are now partly Italian. These 
have driven the moth before them to such an 
extent that they bid fair to soon become ex- 
tinct. Perhaps much has been also done, by 
keeping all bits of comb out of their way ; 
no rubbish that would harbor them has been 
allowed to accumulate about the apiary; and 
as soon as any filth has been found contain- 
ing them, it has been promptly burned. 
Those who take comb honey from hives of 
common bees are almost sure to find live 
worms in them, sooner or later. 

How do the worms get into a box of honey 
that is pasted up tightly, just as soon as the 
bees are driven out ? I presume they get 
in just as they get into the comb taken from 
a hive during warm weather. The moth 
has doubtless been all through the hive, for 
she can go where a bee can, and has laid the 
eggs in every comb, trusting to the young 
worms to evade the^ees by some means aft- 
er they are hatched. This explanation, I 
am well aware, seems rather unreasonable, 
but it is the only one I can give. In looking 
over hives of common bees, I have often seen 
moths dart like lightning from crevices, and 
have sometimes seen them dart among the 
bees and out again; but whether they can 
deposit an egg so quickly as this, I am un- 
able to say. In taking combs from the hive 



BEE-MOTH. 



:-;s 



BEE-MOTH. 



containing queen-cells to be used in the lamp 
nursery, I have always had more or less 
trouble with these moth-worms. The high 
temperature, and absence of bees, are very 
favorable to their hatching and growth, and 
after about three days the worms are invari- 
ably found spinning their webs. If they are 
promptly picked out, for about a week, no 
more make their appearance, showing clearly 
that the eggs were deposited in the combs, 
while in the hive. 

When the queen-cells are nearly ready to 
hatch, I often hear the queens gnawing out, 
by holding the comb close to my ear. By the 
same means, I hear moth-worms eating out 
their galleries along the comb ; and more 
than once I have mistaken them for queens. 
They are voracious eaters, and the " chank- 
ing " they make, when at full work, reminds 
one of a lot of hogs. As they are easily 
frightened, you must lift the combs with 
great care, to either see or hear them at their 
work. 

Their silken galleries are often constructed 
right through a comb of sealed brood, and 
they then make murderous work with the 
unhatched bees. Perhaps a single worm will 
mutilate a score of bees before he is dis- 
lodged. These are generally found at the 
entrance of the hive iu the morning, and nu- 
merous letters have been received from new 
beginners, asking why their bees should tear 
the unhatched brood out of the combs, and 
carry it out of the hives. 1 presume the 
moth is at the bottom of all, or nearly all, of 
these complaints. If you examine the capped 
brood carefully, you will see light streaks 
across the combs where these silken galleries 
are ; and a pin or a knife-point will quickly 
pry his wormship out of his retreat. As the 
young worms travel very rapidly, it is quite 
likely that the eggs may have been deposit- 
ed on the frame or edges of the comb. It is 
a little more difficult to understand how they 
get into a honey-box with only a small open- 
ing, but I think it is done by the moth while 
on the hive. 

You may. perhaps, have noticed that the 
moth-webs are usually seen from one comb 
to another, and they seldom do very much 
mischief unless there are two or more combs 
side by side. Well, if in putting away your 
surplus combs for winter you place them two 
inches or more apart, you will seldom have 
any trouble, even should you leave them un- 
disturbed until the next July. There is no 
danger from worms, in any case, in the fall, 
winter, or spring, for the worms can not de- 
velop unless they have a summer temper- 



ature, although they will live a long time in 
a dormant state if not killed by severe freez- 
ing weather. I have kept combs in my barn 
two years or more; but they were not re- 
moved from the hives until fall, and were 
kept during the summer months in a close 
box, where no moth could possibly get at 
them. I have several times had worms get 
among them when I was so careless as to 
leave them exposed during warm weather, 
and one season I found nearly 1000 combs so 
badly infested that they would have been 
almost worthless in less than a week. The 
combs were all hung up in the honey-house, 
and then about a pound of brimstone was 
thrown on a shovel of coals in an old kettle. 
This was placed in the room, and all doors 
and windows carefully closed. Next morn- 
ing I found most of the worms dead ; but a 
few that were encased in heavy webs were 
still alive; after another and more severe 
fumigation, not a live one was to be found, 
and my combs were saved. I have several 
times since fumigated honey in boxes in 
the same way. The following extract from 
Burt's Mali rin Mnlicu may contain some 
hints as valuable to apiarists as to doctors. 

In the form of sulphurous-acid fvnies, or gas, sul- 
phur is the most powerful of all known agents as a 
disinfectant and deodorizer. To disinfect a room and 
clothing from infectious diseases, as smallpox, etc., 
first close up the chimney, and paste up all crevices 
ot the windows and doors to prevent the escape of 
gas. Now raise up all carpets, and hang up the 
cloths, so that the fumes of gas may have complete 
access to them. When this is done, set a tub in the 
center of the room with six inches of water in it; 
in the center of this water place a stone that comes 
just above the water; on this stone set an iron ves- 
sel with two pounds of sulphur broken up into quite 
fine pieces or lumps; on this pour a few ounces of 
alcohol, to make the sulphur burn readily; set the 
alcohol on fire, and leave the room, closing the door 
behind you. It is well to repeat' this fumigation 
three or four times. 

After the bees have died in a hive, it 
should never be left exposed to robbers and 
moths, but should be carried indoors at once, 
or carefully closed up. If you have not bees 
either by artificial or natural swarming, to 
use the combs before warm weather you 
should keep a careful watch over them, for 
a great amount of mischief may be done in 
a very few days. I once removed some 
combs, heavy with honey, in August, and 
thinking no worms would get into them so 
late, I delayed looking at them. A month 
later, the honey began to run out on the 
floor ; and upon attempting to lift out a 
comb, it was found impossible to do so. 
When all were lifted up at once, a mass of 
webs nearly as large as one's head was 



BEES. E 

found, in place of the honey and combs. So 
much for not keeping a careful watch of 
such property. 

By way of summing up, I would say : Use 
plain, simple, unpatented hives ; get Italians 
as soon as you can; keep your colonies strong; 
be sure that none of them by any means be- 
come queenless, and you need have no so- 
licitude in regard to the bee-moth among 
your bees. If you have spare combs, or 
comb honey that has been taken away from 
the bees in warm weather, keep an eye on it, 
and either destroy the worms as soon as 
they appear, or fumigate them as I have di- 
rected. When your eye has become trained, 
you will detect the very first appearance of 
a worm by its excrement, in the shape of a 
line white powder. We sometimes hunt 
them out thus and destroy them, when they 
are so small as to be only just visible to the 
naked eye. Giving your combs a good freeze, 
say a temperature of 15 or 2CP, will answer 
the same purpose as the fumigation. 

BXHES. Everybody knows what bees 
are, I suppose, and therefore I need not at- 
tempt to give you a picture of them. If you 
contemplate becoming a bee-keeper, I would 
advise you to get a hive of them, and then to 
use your own eyes and ears, to see if what I 
tell you about them is true. At present we 
have but two varieties of bees that are in 
common use for the production of honey; 
and with the vast difference in favor of the 
Italians, we shall very soon have only the 
Italians. The Egyptians have been tried in 
our country to some extent, but are, I believe, 
inferior to the Italians, besides being much 
more vindictive. Bees from the island of 
Cyprus and from the Holy Land are men- 
tioned in connection with Italian Bees, 
which see. xllbino bees have also been 
talked about; but after testing them in my 
own apiary, I find them little different from 
the common Italians. The fringe, or down, 
that appears on the rings of the abdomen of 
young bees is a trifle whiter than usual, but 
no one would observe it unless his attention 
were called to it. The queens are very yel- 
low, but the workers, as honey-gatherers, 
are decidedly inferior, even to the second 
generation; and when we select light-colored 
bees or queens for several successive gener- 
ations, if we are not careful we shall have a 
worker progeny lacking as honey-gatherers, 
and in ability to endure. By selection, we 
can get almost any thing we want, and that 
quite speedily with bees, for we can produce 
several generations in a single season, if 
need be. 



9 BEES. 

It is said in the South, that they have two 
varieties of the common or black bee, but it 
is quite likely they are one and the same 
thing, for bees in the same neighborhood 
| vary much in color ; the bees of one colony 
I may be almost a brown, while in another 
; they are almost black. I shall speak, in this 
, book, of but two kinds— the black, or com- 
mon, and the Italian. 

HOW BEES GROW. 

During warm weather, while your bees 
are gathering honey, open your hive in the 
| middle of the day, and put in the center a 
j frame containing a sheet of fdn.; examine it 
every night, morning and noon, until you 
see eggs in the cells. If you put it between 
two combs containing brood, you will very 
likely find eggs in the cells the next day. 




A QUEEN'S EGG UNDER THE MICROSCOPE. 

If you have never seen an egg that is to pro- 
duce a bee, you may have to look very sharp 
the first time, for they are white like polish- 
ed ivory, and scarcely larger than one of the 
periods in this print. They will be seen in 
the center of the cell attached to the comb 
by one end. The egg under the microscope 
has much the appearance of the above. It 
is covered, as you notice, with a sort of lace- 
like penciling, or net-work, it might proper- 
ly be called. As soon as you discover eggs, 
mark down the date. If the weather is fa- 
vorable, these eggs will hatch out in about 3 
days or a little more; and in place of the egg, 
you will, if you look sharp enough, see a 
tiny white worm or grub floating in a mi- 
nute drop of milky fluid. If you watch the 
bees you will find them incessantly poking 
their heads into these cells, and it is likely 
that the milky fluid is placed on and about 
the egg, a little before the inmate breaks its 
way out of the shell. I infer this, because I 
have never been able to get the eggs to 
hatch when taken away from the bees, al- 
though I have carefully kept the temper- 
ature at the same point as in the hive. The 
net-work shown in the cut above will allow 
the milky fluid to penetrate the shell of the 
egg so as to furnish nourishment for the 
young Joee at just the time it requires it. 
These worms are really the young bee in its 
larval state, and we shall in future call them 



BEES. 



40 



BEES. 



larva?. They thrive and grow very rapidly 
on their bread -and-milk diet, as you will see 
if you look at them often. They will more 
than double in size in a single half-day, and 
in the short space of 7 days they will have 
grown from a mere speck to the size of a 
full-grown bee, or so as to completely fill the 
cell. This seems almost incredible, but 
there they are, right before your eyes. I 
presume it is owing to the highly concentrat- 
ed nature of this same " bread-and-milk " 
food that the workers are so constantly giv- 
ing them, that they grow so rapidly. If you 
take the comb away from the bees for a little 
while you will see the larvae opening their 
mouths to be fed, like a nest of young birds, 
for all the world. 




1 2 4 5 7 15 18 

FROM THE EGG TO THE BEE. 

The figures underneath are intended to 
represent the age in days. First is the larva 
just as it has broken the egg-shell on the 
third day ; next, the larva two days old. 
During the fourth and fifth days they grow 
very rapidly, but it is difficult to fix any pre- 
cise mark in regard to the size. On the sev- 
enth day the larva has straightened himself 
out, and the worker-bees have capped him 
over. I have made a pretty accurate exper- 
iment on this point, and it was just six davs 
and seven hours after the first egg hatched, 
when they got it completely capped over. 
Just when they begin to have legs and eyes, 
I do not know ; but I have found that the 
wings are about the last part of the work. 
We are all of us too ignorant, by far, on this 
matter, and I suggest that we set to work 
and investigate the matter thoroughly. The 
eggs of the common fowl have been broken, 
and drawings made of the embryo, every 
day from the 1st to the 21st. Can we not do 
as much for the science of apiculture ? 

After the larvae are 7 days old, or between 
10 and 11 days from the time when the egg 
was laid, you will find the bees sealing up 
some of the largest. This sealing is done 
with a sort of paper-like substance ; and 
while it shuts the young bee up, it still al- 
lows him a chance to breathe through the 
pores of the capping. lie is given his last 
feed, and the nurses seem to say, " There ! 
you have been fed enough; spin your co- 
coon, and take care of yourself." 



I wish, my friend, I could tell you what 
happens after this, but I have not yet been 
able to see. As a general thing, the young 
bee is left covered up until he gnaws off the 
capping, and comes out a perfect bee. This 
will be in about 21 days from the day the egg 
was laid, or it may be 20, if the weather is 
very favorable ; therefore he is shut up 10 or 
11 days. Now, there is an exception to this 
last statement, and it has caused not a little 
trouble and solicitude on the part of begin- 
ners. During very warm summer weather, 
the bees, for one reason or another, decide to 
let a part of their children go " bareheaded," 
and therefore we find, on opening a hive, 
whole patches of young bees looking like 
silent corpses with their white heads in tiers 
just about on a level with the comb. At this 
stage of growth they are motionless, of 
course, and so the young bee-keeper sends 
us a postal card, telling us the brood in his 
hives is all dead. Some have imagined that 
the extractor killed them, others that it was 
foul brood; and I often think, when reading 
these letters, of the family which moved 
from the city into the country ; when their 
beans began to come up, they thought the 
poor things had made a mistake, by coming 
up wrong end first ; so they pulled them all 
up, and replanted them with the bean part 
in the ground, leaving the proper roots 
sprawling up in the air. My friend, you can 
rest assured that the bees almost always 
know when it is safe to let the children's 
heads go uncovered. 

As it is, many times, very important to 
know just when a queen was lost, or when a 
colony swarmed, you should learn these data 
thoroughly; for instance, it will be safe to 
say, 3 days in the egg, 7 in the larvae, and 
11 days sealed up. 

The capping of the worker-brood is nearly 
flat ; that of the drones, raised or convex ; 
so much so that we can at a glance tell 
when drones are reared in worker- cells, as is 
sometimes the case. 

The young bee, when he gnaws his way 
out of the cell, commences to rub his nose, 
straighten out his feathers, and then to push 
his way among the busy throng, doubtless 
rejoicing that he, too, is one of that vast com- 
monwealth. Nobody says a word to him, 
or, apparently, takes any notice of him; but 
for all that, they, as a whole, I am well con- 
vinced, feel encouraged, and rejoice in their 
way, at a house full of young folks. Keep a 
colony without young bees for a time, and 
yoii will see a new energy infused into all 
hands, just as soon as young bees begin to 
gnaw out. 



BEES. 



41 



BEES OK SHARES. 



If you vary your experiment by putting a 
frame of Italian eggs into a colony of com- 
mon bees, you will be better able to follow 
the young bee as it matures. The first day 
he does little but crawl round ; but about 
the next day he will be found dipping 
greedily into the cells of unsealed honey, 
and so on for a week or more ; after about 
the first clay he will also begin to look after 
the wants of the unsealed larvae, and will 
very soon assist in furnishing. the milky 
food for them. While doing this, a large 
amount of pollen is used, and it is supposed 
that this larva? food is pollen and honey, 
partially digested by the young or nursing 
bees. Bees of this age, or a little older, sup- 
ply the royal jelly for the queen-cells, which is 
the same, I think, as the food given the very 
small larvae. 14 Just before the larvae for the 
worker-bees and drones are sealed up, they 
are fed on a coarser and less perfectly di- 
gested mixture of honey and pollen. The 
young bees will have a white downy look, 
until they are a full week old, and they have 
a peculiar look that shows them to be young 
until they are quite two weeks old. At 
about this latter age they are generally the 
active comb-builders of the hive. When 
they are a week or 10 days old, they will take 
their first flight out of doors, and I know of 
no prettier sight in the apiary than a host 
of young Italians taking their play-spell in 
the open air, in front of their hive ; their 
antics and gambols remind one of a lot of 
young lambs at play. 

It is also very interesting to see these lit- 
tle chaps when they bring their first load of 
pollen from the fields. If there are plenty 
of bees in the hive, of the proper age, they 
will not usually take up this work until 
about two weeks old. The first load of pol- 
len is to a young bee just about what the 
first pair of pants is to a boy-baby. Instead 
of going straight into the hive with his load, 
as the veterans do, a vast amount of circling 
round the entrance must be done; and even 
after he has once alighted he takes wing 
again, rushes all through the hive, jostles 
the nurses, drones, and perhaps queen too, 
and says as plainly as could words, " Look 
here ! This is I ; I gathered this, all myself. 
Is it not nice V" 

We might imagine some old veteran who 
has brought thousands of such loads, an- 
swering gruffly, " Well, suppose you did; 
what of it? You had better put it in a 
cell, and start after more, instead of 
making all this row and wasting time, when 
there are so many mouths to feed." I said 



we might imagine this, for I have never 
been able to find any indication of any un- 
kindness inside of a bee - hive. No one 
scolds or finds fault, and the children are 
never driven off to work, unless they wish. 
If they are improvident, and starvation 
comes, they all starve alike, and, as I do be- 
lieve, without a single hard feeling or bit of 
censure toward any one. They all work to- 
gether, just as your right hand assists your 
left; and if we would understand the econo- 
my of the bee-hive, it were well to bear this 
point in mind. 

Shortly after the impulse for pollen -gath- 
ering, comes that for honey-gathering ; and 
the bee is probably in his prime, as a worker, 
when he is a month old. At this age he can, 
like a man of 40, " turn his hand " to almost 
any of the duties of the hive ; but if the hive 
is well supplied with workers of all ages, he 
would probably do most effective service in 
the fields, see Age of Bees. 

If a colony is formed of young bees entire- 
ly, they will sometimes go out into the fields 
for pollen when but 5 or 6 days old. Also 
when a colony is formed wholly of adult 
bees, they will build comb, feed the larvae, 
construct queen-cells, and do the work gen- 
erally that is usually done by the younger 
bees, but it is probably better economy to 
have bees of all ages in the hive. 

BEES ON SHARES. There are cas- 
es, doubtless, where it is advantageous to 
both parties to let bees out on shares ; but 
as a general thing I would advise owning 
your bees, even though it be but a single 
colony, before you commence to build up an 
apiary. It almost always happens that one 
of the parties is dissatisfied ; and as is fre- 
quently the case with such partnership ar- 
rangements, both the parties have been 
wronged, to hear their story for it. 

I believe it is customary for one of the 
partners to furnish the bees, and the other 
to do the work; at the end of the season, 
every thing is divided equally. If new hives, 
Italian queens, etc., are to be used, the ex- 
pense is equally divided. The division of 
stock is usually made as soon as the honey 
season is over, and each party takes his 
chances of wintering. To prevent any mis- 
understanding, I would advise that the 
whole agreement be put in writing, and that 
whenever something turns up for which no 
provision has been made, some agreement 
be made in regard to it, and that this be put 
in writing also. Instead of inquiring what 
other folks do, arrange the matter just as 
you can agree, and make up your minds in 



BORAGE. 



& 



BUCKWHEAT. 



the outset that you are going to remain good 
friends, even if it costs all the bees and your 
whole summer's work. 

BLUE THISTLE [Echium vulgare). 
If I am correct, this plant is not a thistle at 
all, but more properly a near relative of the 
borage, which it closely resembles. It grows 
in great- profusion in many of the Southern 
and Middle States, but the principal reports 
seem to come from Virginia, and the valley 
of the Shenandoah. As it blossoms fully four 
months in the year, and produces a beautiful 
white honey, it would seem that it might 
well deserve a place among the plants on a 
honey-farm. If we are correct, it needs but 
little coaxing to cover whole farms ; and in 
Ya., we are told there are hundreds of acres 
of it growing wild, as a weed. Over 200 lbs. 
of white box honey have been reported from 
it, from a single colony, in one summer. A 
field of blue is no doubt a very pretty sight 
to the bee-keeper ; but to the farmers, who 
find it a great pest, it may not look so hand- 
some. We have really no right to make our 
honey-farm a nuisance to the neighborhood, 
by bringing in foul weeds ; so perhaps you 
had better take your bees down where it 
grows, instead of sending for seeds. 

Sept., 1880. — Recent reports indicate that 
it is no worse weed than the borage. It dies 
root and branch every fall, and is therefore 
entirely unlike the dreaded Canada thistle. 

BORAGE (Bvrago Officinalis). This 
has been at different times recommended 
for bees, but as those making the experiment 
of planting several acres of it did not repeat 
it in succeeding years, I think we are just- 
ified in concluding it did not pay. I have 
raised it in our garden, and some seasons 
the bees seem very busy on it. It has a 
small blue blossom, and grows so rapidly 
that a tine mass of bloom may be secured by 
simply planting the seeds on the ground 
where you dig your early potatoes. If it is 
to be raised by the acre, it should be sown 
at about the same time and much in the 
same manner as corn, in hills or broadcast. 

In 1879 I had a hajf-acre of it. It was 
moderately covered with bees for many 
weeks, but was much inferior to the Simp- 
son honey-plant. 

BUCKBUSH ( Si/?Hp/ion'cacj)»,v vulgaris). 
This bush is sent in every season as a won- 
derful honey-bearing plant, although on our 
hands it has not amounted, as yet, to very 
much. It is nearly allied to the snowdrop, 
which it resembles, only the berries are small 
and red, instead of white. It is sometimes 
called the " coral-berry," from its looks. Its 




BUCKBUSH. 

botanical name comes from the fact that sym 
means together, or crowded. Pherein means 
to bear, or carry, and carjms means fruit; so 
that the name means, we might say, " bear- 
ing fruits crowded together/ 1 I believe it is 
usually found in the woods, and in some lo- 
calities is reported to furnish some very nice 
honey. I do not know that very much is 
done in the way of cultivating it for honey. 
The common snowdrop (Symphoricarpus ra- 
cemosus) sometimes bears considerable honey, 
but probably not as much as buckbush. 

BUCKWHEAT. We have had reports. 
from three different kinds; the black, the 
gray, and the silverhull. The two former 
are old varieties, and are much alike ; the 
latter is new, and, as usual, great things are 
claimed for it. We have had a piece near 
us this season; it has given about as much 
honey as the common varieties, but, so far 
as we can discover, but little if any more. 
It bids fair to give a greater yield, and is, 
therefore, perhaps, somewhat preferable. It 
will certainly pay for bee-keepers to raise 
buckwheat: and if they are not land-owners, . 
they can furnish the seed to the adjoining 
farmers free, or pay them a dollar or two 
per acre for the honey it yields. Although 
this is not a buckwheat country, I think it 
pays me, taking seasons as they come, to 
pay SI. 00 per acre for all that is sown within 
H miles of my apiary, and if there should be 
50 acres sown, it would please me all the 
better. Some such plan as this is probably 
the safest investment we can make in the 
way of artificial pasturage. The honey is 
dark, and but few people like the flavor of 
it, after they have used it a little time, but 
it seems perfectly wholesome for winter, 
saves purchasing sugar, all trouble of feed- 
ing, encourages brood-rearing in the fall, 
and keeps the bees away from the groceries 
and dwellings, to a certain extent. 15 

CULTIVATION. 

Buckwheat will grow and blossom on al- 
most any soil ; but if you want it to pay for 
either honey or grain, it should have good 
rich land. It is sown broadcast, about 3 
pecks of seed per acre. The best crop of 
buckwheat honey we ever had here was 
from a piece prepared for and planted with 



BITYING AND SELLING BEES. 43 BUYING AND SELLING BEES. 



corn. The corn was so nearly killed by cut- 
worms that it was harrowed over nicely and 
sown to buckwheat in the latter part of 
June. This is almost a month earlier than 
buckwheat is usually sown here, but the 
yield was. such that, from the two acres, we 
had at least 200 lbs. of comb honey, besides 
the large amount that must have gone into 
the brood-apartments. 

The bees that gathered the largest part of 
this were dark hybrids; the pure Italians 
were at the same time storing white honey 
from red clover. It was amusing to see 
hives side by side both working in the sec- 
tion boxes, one of which made white combs 
and honey, like that in June, while the other 
built combs of a golden yellow, and stored it 
with the dark rich - looking buckwheat 
honey. As the hybrids gave quite a large 
crop of this dark honey, I began to be a lit- 
tle partial to them; but after the boxes were 
all removed, I found they had put it all 
above, and left their brood-apartment almost 
empty, while the more prudent Italians had 
filled the brood-combs until they were in ex- 
cellent condition for winter. It has been 
several times advanced, that the blacks and 
hybrids are ahead, when nothing but buck- 
wheat honey is to be found in the fields. 

BUYING AND SELLING BEES. With 
every ABC scholar who wishes to com- 
mence, or at least make a trial, with bees, 
the question naturally aiises, "How shall 1 
proceed to get a start?" Before I can an- 
swer the question fully, I should want 
to know something about you personally. 
To one who has very little money to spare, 
and expects to keep bees for the money they 
will furnish, as well as for pleasure, I would 
give a little different advice from what I 
would to some professional man who wants 
them as an ornament to his grounds, and 
who has more money than time. The latter, 
I should probably advise to purchase a col- 
ony or two of pure Italians, in a chaff or 
lawn hive, with all the section boxes, etc., 
ready for the bees to go right to work. If, 
on the other hand, you want the bees prin- 
cipally to fill up your spare moments, and 
wish to commence with the least possible 
expense, I would advise you to purchase one 
or two hives of common bees in your own 
neighborhood, and do all the rest yourself. 
You can get them at almost any season of 
the year you choose, and, if you are in the 
mood, I should say the sooner you get them 
the better. If you can choose from a num- 
ber of stocks, take those having the great- 
est amount of bees and stores, other things 



being equal. If you can turn up the hive so 
as to examine the combs, smoking the bees 
a little to make them get out of the way, 
choose one having straight, regular cards of 
comb, for it will be much easier to transfer. 
I would not purchase more than two or three 
colonies to commence with. When you 
have learned to handle these few to your 
satisfaction, it will be time enough to think 
of more; and two colonies can be made to 
build up a large apiary, of themselves, if 
you manage them according to the latest 
methods. Eor directions in regard to mov- 
ing them home, see Moving Bees. As to 
price to be paid, I would suggest that you 
should not pay for common bees in box 
hives more than about $3.00 or $ 4.00 in the 
fall or early winter, and perhaps $5.00 or 
$6.00 in the spring or summer. Do not pay 
one cent more for bees in any kind of patent 
hives. When you get them home, and they 
are settled nicely, and flying if it is warm 
weather, you are ready to transfer them as 
per instructions under Transferring. 
After they aie well over the shock of being 
transferred, give them an Italian queen, as 
per instructions in Introducing, and you 
are then fully started for business. I think 
it an advantage for you to perforin all these 
operations yourself, even though you should 
make bad work of it the first time, because 
it gives you valuable experience. 

I would once more emphasize the impor- 
tance of commencing with a very few stocks. 
A young man once came to me to know if 
he would not better buy 40 colonies to com- 
mence with, as they were offered him very 
low, and he was quite sanguine he could 
manage them. Although I advised him 
quite strongly not to take them, he decided 
to run the risk. In less than a year he had 
lost the greater part of them. Nevertheless 
he became an enthusiast, bought more, and 
increased until he had over a hundred ; but 
when winter came, he lost heavily ; and so 
on for several seasons, until his friends 
plead with him to give up bees. He finally 
came down to only a few colonies, which he 
kept strong and in good order, and he is now 
one of the most successful apiarists we have 
in our neighborhood, in regard to wintering 
his bees. 

A " CRUMB OF COMFORT " FOR THOSE WHO 
HAVE LOST IN WINTERING. 

While the great losses have worked disas- 
ter to many, a great good has resulted in 
obliging us to improve our methods of ship- 
ping bees, as well as queens, to those who 
have quantities of empty hives and empty 
combs. 



BUYING AND SELLING BEES. 44 BUYING AND SELLING BEES. 



CAGES FOR SHIPPING BEES. 

The trade now in bees in cages containing 
one pound each, and a queen, is almost a 
national industiy. The bees are sent in 
wire cages made of bands of wire cloth, and 
our usual one-pound section boxes. 




CAGE FOR ONE-HALF POUND OF BEES. 




CAGE FOE ONE-EIGHTH POUND OF BEES. 




CAGE FOR ONE POUND OF BEES. 

Bees must of a necessity be sent by express; 
none are allowed by mail except the dozen 
or two that accompany the queen, and 
freight is altogether too slow. 

CANDY-BLOCKS FOR BEE-CAGES. 

After several experiments we have decided 
in favor of the little block shown below. It 
is just 4 inches long, and made to crowd in 
close in a Simplicity section. The block is 
li inches wide by f deep. Two holes are 
bored in it, li inches or a little larger. The 
small holes are f. After the block is rilled 
with the Good candy, it is fastened with 
wire nails in the section box — a block of 
candy on each side. Bees then have access 
to it through the small holes. 




BLOCK TO HOLD THE CANDY. 

You will observe the block is made of 
such dimensions that the wire caps when 
squeezed down will not injure a bee. As 
there are two blocks in a section, the quan- 
tity of food is proportioned to the size of the 
cage. The cage for two sections will hold 
enough for one-half pound of bees, while the 
cage for three sections will hold enough for 
a whole pound. When the candy is made of 
the powdered sugar, such as we have advis- 
ed, there will be no trouble from the grains 
rattling out. In fact, it stays in the box 
in a pasty mass until the whole is consumed. 
For trips longer than a week, perhaps it 
would be well to use water-bottles; or the 
block could be made to hold more candy by 
putting the two holes a little further apart, 
and make a third hole between these two. 
Two openings for bees will probably be suf- 
ficient. 




TIN TUNNEL FOR SHAKING THE BEES INTO THE 
ABOVE CAGES. 

With the above tunnel, an expert will put 
up a pound of bees ready for shipment, in 
live minutes, after finding the queen. After 
using the tunnel a dozen times or so, the 
honey that shakes against the inside should 
be washed off, and also the brush that is used 
to brush them down with. When the tun- 
nel is dropped, it should be set with its 
mouth on the ground, and the small end 
covered with the small cap, to keep robber- 
bees from sucking up the new honey. The 
cages may hold more bees than the weight 
named, especially in cool weather ; in fact, 
we often put li lbs. in a 1-lb. cage ; but if 
the weather is hot, it is not safe to put in 
more than 1 lb. For very long distances we 
use a 1-lb. cage for only half a pound of bees. 

SELLING BEES BY THE POUND. 

May, 1884. — At present writing, sending 
bees and queens in the manner above indi- 



BUYING AND SELLING BEES. 45 BUYING AND SELLING BEES. 



cated has grown to be a great industry. A 
neighbor of ours, to see what could be done 
with a good queen and a pound of bees, on 
June 16, 18S2, put them into a hive, with a sin- 
gle comb of brood, all the rest being dry 
empty combs. lie increased them to five 
fair colonies during the season, and winter- 
ed them all. Of course, they were fed and 
suppliedwith empty combs, but no help in the 
way of bees or queens. When a purchaser 
gets a cage of bees and queen, if he has old 
combs or even hives where bees have died, 
all he has to do is to let the bees run out of 
the cage on to the combs, just as if they 
were a new swarm. As there is some dan- 
ger of decamping, by far the better way is to 
give them a comb containing some unsealed 
brood. It will be noticed, that in purchas- 
ing in this way one can put his bees and 
queen on such combs as he is using in his 
own hives, and it does not matter whether 
his frames and hives are like those that oth- 
er people use or not, for a pound of bees will 
" fit " any hive or any kind of comb. 

The question is frequently asked, if one of 
these cages of bees with a queen may be 
turned loose on frames of foundation. It 
can be done, but you will have to watch 
them a little until they get the foundation 
drawn out, and the queen to laying in it. 
When they have done this they are all right. 
If you should attempt it at a time when hon- 
ey is not rapidly coming in from the fields 
you will have to put on a feeder and feed 
them. One great advantage in purchasing 
bees in this way, especially where ordering 
from a distance, is that the express charges 
are but a trifle compared with what they 
would be on a whole swarm. 

The question is often asked, How late in 
the season will it do to attempt to build up 
a pound of bees, with queen, into a swarm 
that will winter? An expert ought to be 
able to do it without any trouble, if he com- 
mences the first of August — feeding, of 
course, liberally at any time when honey is 
not coming in. If he has a good comb of 
brood to give them by way of encourage- 
ment, he might commence even a month 
later. Novices had better not undertake it 
later than June or July ; and if they could 
start them in May they ought to get a good 
strong colony, and something of a crop of 
honey, if he does not attempt to increase 
them. Unless one can have a brood-comb 
to give the little colony, I would advise pur- 
chasing not less than a pound of bees with 
queen ; but if a comb of brood can be given, 
and they be started early in the season, $ lb. 



of young Italians with queen will make a 
good full colony long before winter. 

CONCLUDING SUGGESTIONS IN REGARD TO 
BUYING 15EES. 

May, 1884. — During the past few weeks we 
have bought, at different times, about 150 
colonies. As we have plenty of new hives, 
and plenty of new combs, we purchased 
only the bees and brood; that is, taking 
enough of the combs to get all the brood 
and the principal part of the new honey and 
new pollen. As we greatly prefer combs that 
are built on foundation in wired frames, 
we prefer not to take the old hives nor the 
old combs. We paid for these bees from 
five to six dollars per colony, on an average ; 
but we find a vast difference in them. While 
some colonies would perhaps be worth ten 
dollars, others would hardly be worth three ; 
so where you are buying bees, and have a 
chance to take your pick, it will make quite 
a difference, especially if bought in the 
spring. Find a colony first that is full of 
bees — the more the better. I never saw a 
hive with too many bees in it to suit my 
taste. Next look out for the brood. If 
there are many combs full of brood, even 
though the quantity of bees is moderate, the 
hatching brood will soon make the hive pop- 
ulous. The amount of stores when you are 
buying in the spring is of but little moment, 
as bees can easily be supplied if they do not 
get it themselves. 

The next important item is the queen. A 
good queen is ordinarily worth as much as 
both bees and brood. She should be bright 
and sprightly looking, active, and large. A 
very old queen can usually be detected by 
her looks; for one who is accustomed to 
handling queens can tell a young queen from 
an old one almost as easily as you can tell a 
young person from an old one. A hive of 
bees having an old queen, little brood, and 
few bees, may not be as well worth $2.50 as 
one having a young vigorous queen, combs 
of solid sealed brood, and a hive boiling over 
with bees, would be worth $10.00. I hardly 
believe it will pay you to send off for bees 
and queens by express when you can get 
them at the above prices from an experi- 
enced apiarist living near you. The begin- 
ner, in purchasing bees, will also get much 
valuable knowledge from visiting a success- 
ful bee - keeper. Perhaps the knowledge 
gained from a single trip may be worth much 
more than the colony of bees he purchases. 

See How to Join the ABC Class, in 
concluding remarks in the back part of this 
book. 



c. 



CAGES rdB. QUEEN'S. These are 
for introducing, for sending them both 
by mail and express, and for keeping them 
safely many times about the apiary, espe- 
cially when we find several just hatched out 
in a hive. For introducing only, a cage 
made by simply rolling up a piece of wire 
cloth will do, many times; but as this gives 
us no perfectly sure method of supplying 
the queen with food, I can but regard it un- 
safe, for queens have frequently been found 
starved when the cage was pushed between 
two combs of sealed honey, the bees having 
removed all the honey from around the cage, 
as they almost always do when a comb is 
crushed. To be on the safe side, it would 
seem best to have a good supply of food in 
the cage at all times. If this supply is given 
in the form of honey, there is almost always 
a liability of the bees and queen getting 
more or less daubed or smeared with it; and 
unless this can be soon removed by other 
bees they are sure to die sooner or later, for 
the breathing - tubes located in different 
parts of their bodies are easily closed by 
sugar or honey, if it is allowed to dry on 
them. Honey in a sponge has been one of 
the most successful ways of giving a supply 
for long journeys ; but even this is apt to 
give them a dauby look, and I have several 
times found bees, and sometimes the queen, 
wedged into or under the sponge, dead. 
One of these was an imported queen; and as 
all the bees with her were spry and active, I 
could but think she had got entangled under 
the sponge, and died from this alone. Can- 
dy has been used for some time quite suc- 
cessfully ; the only difficulty seems to be in 
providing just enough moisture and no more. 

Besides the above-mentioned wants, we 
want a queen -cage that can be cheaply 
made, especially if we are going to sell 
queens for a dollar or less. 

There are a great many different cages 
made, both for shipping and introducing; 
but the one that is giving the most univer- 
sal satisfaction for both these operations, 



and that is now being most generally used, is 

THE PEET CAGE, 

which I will now describe in detail. 

The material should be thoroughly-sea- 
soned basswood or cottonwood plank that 
will plane to 1|. Cut these into lengths con- 
venient to handle as well as to work to ad- 
vantage (say 4 feet); then rip into strips that 
will plane to 2i. The sides and edges now 
being planed, we are ready for the boring- 
machine, making the holes clear through the 
thickness of the strips ; i. c, the H distance. 
The large hole should be 2 in., and the small- 
er holes |, the smaller ones being so near to 
the large one as to make a i opening from 
one into the other, as seen in the cut. These 
holes will then occupy 2| inches ; and be- 
tween one set of holes and another there 
should be i in. left ; then there will be of 
from the center of each hole to the center of 
the corresponding one next beyond. ]STow 
keep right on boring these holes in all the 
strips of plank. Then rip the strips length- 
wise I thick, and plane on both sides, leav- 
ing them i thick. For sending queens long 
distances, or in any case where it is desira- 
ble to put a larger number of bees in the 
cage, these strips may be left without rip- 
ping, or only one piece, I thick, may be ripped 
off. The next thing to be done is to saw a 
small groove near each corner, for the tin to 
slide in. This is done on a little miter plat- 
form fixed at the right bevel, close up to the 
saw. I think the cut will make it all plain. 




PEET S INTRODUCING AND SHIPPING CAGE. 

After the grooving is done, the sticks are 
taken in bundles, being careful to have the 
holes exactly match, and cut up so as to 



CAGES FOE QUEENS. 48 

make the cages complete, as far as this piece 
is concerned. 

The t'n slide is cut 2£ x 3| ; and after clip- 
ping off the two corners at one end, folded 
so as to slide into the sawed grooves, the 
folds being i in., and on two sides and one 
end, as shown in the cut. The slide should 
enter the grooves at the opposite end from 
that shown in the cut. After the slides are 
in place, the two smaller holes should be w T ell 
rilled with candy, made by kneading togeth- 
er the best powdered sugar, such as confec- 
tioners use, and honey, until there is formed 
a stiff, moist dough. It should be made sever- 
al days before using. 

This candy was suggested by I. R. Good, 
Tullahoma, Coffee Co., Tenn., and holds 
moisture, during ordinary summer weather, 
for from a week to ten days, without any 
water. 

After putting in the candy, and before 
tacking on the wire cloth, place a piece of 
strong manilla paper \'i\2} over the holes to 
prevent any stickiness from the candy on the 
outside of the cage. The wire cloth should 
be cut 2Jx3f , and folded i inch all around 
to prevent its raveling and catching on any 
thing. It will then be 2±x3i, and should be 
fastened to the cage by six i in. tacks. 

Now all is done, except making and put- 
ting a pointed strip of tin on each side of the 
cage. These strips and the slides may all 
be made of the cheapest kind of tin. 



CAGES FOR QUEENS. 



TIN POINTS FOR FASTENING THE CAGE TO THE 

BROOD-COMB. 

Now, instead of cutting each piece out 
separately, and then punching a hole in each, 
cut strips ixSi. The hole for driving the 
tack is now punched in each end, and then 
a cut made diagonally across the middle — 
thus saving a great deal of handling. 

The next thing to be made is the wooden 
cover, with a groove in it to admit air, to be 
used in shipping queens. 




BOARD TO TACK OVER THE WIRE CLOTH. 

Take strips of basswood I thick by If wide, 
and planed. Run these strips over a wab- 
bling saw cutting a groove i wide, or more, 
by 3-32 deep, in the middle of one side. Now 
cut these strips into pieces 2| long. These 
are to be tacked over the large hole on top of 



the wire cloth, with the grooved side down, 
thus affording plenty of air for the bees. 

There are a few who insist that bees stand 
a long shipment better if there is in the cage 
a bottle containing water ; hence we have 
had our engraver represent one in the cut. 
Those generally used are made of tin. There 
should be a small pinhole at the center, to 
allow the bees to get at the water. 

After having sent thousands of queens, 
both with water and without, we are in- 
clined to think, all things taken into con- 
sideration, when the honey and pulverized 
sugar is used as has been described, they are 
better off, as a rule, without the water-bot- 
tles. 

The especial feature of this cage, invented 
by Theodore O. Peet, formerly editor of the 
Bee-Keepers'' Exchange, published at Canajo- 
harie, Mont. Co., N. Y., is for introducing 
queens. When the cage is received, the tin 
points shown on the side are turned down 
and pressed into a level place on the surface 
of a brood-comb taken from the hive. The 
slide is now withdrawn, and the queen and 
her attendant bees are caged on the comb. 
If the bees have not got her out after forty- 
eight hours, she can almost always be lib- 
erated safely by that time. 

E. M. Ilayhurst, of Kansas City, Mo., who 
has had large and successful experience in 
handling queens, recommends leaving the 
tin slide in the cage when first put in, in 
case the bees seem hostile ; and the slide is 
not to be removed until they do deport them- 
selves quietly, and cease to cling to the cage. 
With a feeble queen, however, I would put 
her right on to the unsealed new honey, as 
recommended above. See Introducing 
Queens. 

The cage had better be put on sealed 
brood, for then there will be less danger of 
the bees gnawing them out too soon. If the 
cage can also be made to cover a few cells 
of fresh honey, it will be all the better for a 
queen that has been on a long trip, for there 
is nothing like being on a comb, right in a 
hive, for a queen that is any way feeble. 
As the queen is usually liberated by the 
bees, she gets out without any such disturb- 
ance as opening the hive, etc., and this is, I 
suppose, one reason why the Peet cage to- 
day stands ahead of all other methods. 
When the cage is to be sent by mail, the 
whole is tied with stout flour-sack paper, 
with holes punctured for ventilation. 

QUEENS ACROSS THE ATLANTIC BY MAIL. 

May, 1884.— During the year past, and 
this year, such perfection has been at- 
tained in making queen - cages, and in 



CAGES FOE QUEENS. 49 

methods of shipping, that Frank Benton, 
G. M. Doolittle, and a number of others 
have sent queens both ways across the 
Atlantic by mail, with the most flatter- 
ing success. This is an achievement that 
we hail with the greatest delight, for it will 
certainly save a great deal in both time and 
expense, over the expensive and compar- 
atively slow way of having them sent by ex- 
press. The cages used have been very sim- 
ilar in construction. Here is friend Doolit- 
tle's description of the cage he used and his 
way of putting up the first queen he sent 
across the ocean. This queen arrived safely 
in Scotland with only two bees dead. 

I made a cage as follows : I grot out a basswood 
stick, 2 in. square and 6 in. long; % inch from either 
end I hored a 1-inch hole nearly through, into which 
the candy was to be placed. I now turned the block 
J4 over and bored two 14-inch holes, 1-16 of an inch 
toward the center, from the two 1-inch holes at the 
ends, which made the two l 1 i-in. holes come together. 
I next poured melted wax into the holes on either 
end, so as to prevent the moisture in the candy 
from soaking into the wood, after which I cut a % 
hole through each into the 14 hole as a means for 
the bees to get the feed. I next made the candy be- 
taking pulverized sugar, and stirring honey into it 
till it got rather thick to stir. I then tookto knead- 
ing it till I had it so I could roll it into a ball (as we 
boys used to pack snowballs) and placed it in a 
saucer, having it retain its shape, except flattening 
a little on the under side, where it lay on the saucer. 
If it would not do this, I kneaded in more sugar till 
it would. This is the way I have made all my candy 
for queen-cages this season, and I have not lost any, 
except one that I think was injured before she left. 
I have sent several to Texas, California, and even 
as far as Oregon, without loss ; hence I have been 
particular in telling how I made the candy. I next 
filled the waxed holes with this candy, pounding it 
in with a stick till the holes were full within % inch, 
when a cork was driven in, thus preventing any 
escape of the honey. At about 11 o'clock I caught 
the queen, together with 25 worker-bees which were 
about six to eight days old, as nearly as I could 
judge, and placed them in the cage, tacking wire 
cloth over the top of the 14 holes. In catching bees 
to ship by mail, I always take those filling them- 
selves with honey, waiting till they are nearly 
filled. After tacking down the wire cloth on the 
cage, I placed it, wire cloth down, on two 4-inch 
strips, and left it till next morning, thus allowing 
the queen to rid herself of eggs, and the bees to 
x;lean the cage all out, so they would not be trying 
to carry out little pieces of wood and dirt on their 
journey. At 6 o'clock the cover was nailed on, 
which was a strip 3-16 thick, and covered the whole 
of the block on the side where the wire cloth was, 
except two % holes, one over each 14 hole. The 
whole was now wrapped in strong manilla paper, 
except the two a 8-inch holes, thoroughly tied with a 
strong string, and a tag bearing the address tied 
thereto. At Mr. Cameron's suggestion I registered 
it, so as to secure safe delivery after it passed the 
boundary of the U. S., as queens are not supposed 
to pass in the foreign mails. G. M. Doolittle. 

Borodino, N. Y., Sept. 13, 1883, 



CANDIED HONEY. 

Frank Benton, Munich, Bavaria, who has 
met with great success, uses a tin bottle of 
water in his cages, and takes the precaution 
to cover the edges of the pin-hole, for the 
exit of water, with solder, to prevent their 
being closed by rust. 

CANDIED HOXTCSY. All honey, as a 
general thing, candies at the approach of 
cold weather. It has been suggested that 
thin honey candies quicker than thick, and 
such may be the case ; for honey that has 
been perfectly ripened in the hive, that is, 
has been allowed to remain in the hive 
several weeks after being sealed over, will 
sometimes not candy at all, even if exposed 
to zero temperature. As some honey can- 
dies at the very first approach of cold weath- 
er, and other samples not until we have se- 
vere freezing weather, we can not always be 
sure that perfect ripening will prove a pre- 
ventive. It is very seldom indeed that we 
find sealed comb honey in a candied state, 18 
and we therefore infer that the bees know 
how they can preserve it best for their use ; 
for although they can use candied honey 
when obliged to do so, it is very certain that 
they dislike to bother with it, for they often 
carry it out to the entrance of their hives 
when new honey is coming in, rather than 
take the trouble of bringing water with 
which to dissolve it. 

HOW TO PREVENT HONEY FROM CANDYING. 

By following out the plan of the bees, we 
can keep honey in a clear, limpid, liquid 
state, the year round. The readiest means 
of doing this, is to seal it up in ordinary 
self-sealing fruit jars, precisely as we do 
fruit. Maple molasses, syrups, and preserves 
of all kinds, may be kept in the same way 
if we do our work well, almost as fresh, 
and with the same flavor, as the day they 
were put up. We should fill the jar full, 
and have the contents nearly boiling hot 
when the cover is screwed on. 17 The bees 
understood this idea perfectly, before fruit 
jars were ever invented, for they put their 
fresh pollen in the cells, cover it perfectly 
with honey, and then seal it up with an air 
tight wax cover. To avoid heating the hon- 
ey too hot, it may be best to set the fruit 
jars in a pan of boiling water, raising them 
up a little from the bottom, by a thin board. 
If the honey is over-heated, just the least 
trifle, it injures its transparency, and also 
injures its color; in fact it seems almost 
impossible to heat some kinds of honey at 
all, without giving it a darker shade. 

CANDIED-HONEY CONFECTIONERY. 

If you allow a barrel of linden or clover 



(ANDY FOR BEES. 



50 



CAXDY FOE BEES. 



honey to become candied solid, and then 
scoop out the center after one of the heads 
is removed, yon wiJ 1 find, after several 
weeks, that the honey around the sides has 
drained much after the manner of loaf sug- 
ar, leaving the solid portion, sometimes, 
nearly as white as snow, and so dry that it 
may be done up in a paper like sugar. If 
you now take this dry candied honey and 
warm it in an oven until it is soft, it can be 
worked like "taffy," and in this state you 
will pronounce it, perhaps, the most delic- 
ious confectionery you ever tasted. You 
can also make candy of honey by boiling, 
the same as molasses, but as it is little if 
any better, and much more expensive, it is 
seldom used. See Extracted Honey 

CANDY FOB. BEES Get a tin sauce- 
pan, and put into it some granulated sugar 
with a little water — a very little water will 
do. Make it boil, and stir it ; and, when it 
is done enough to "grain" when stirred in 
a saucer, take it quickly from the stove. 
While it is wl cooking,'* do not let the tire 
touch the pan. but place the pan on the 
stove, and there will be no danger of its 
burning. Cover the dining-table with some 
newspapers, that you may have no trouble- 
some daubs to clear up. 

To see when it is just right you can try 
dropping some on a saucer; and while you 
are at work, be sure to remember the little 
folks, who will doubtless take quite an in- 
terest in the proceedings, especially the 
baby. You can stir some until it is very 
white indeed for her; this will do very well 
for cream candy. We have formerly made 
our bee-candy hard and clear; but in this 
shape it is very apt to be sticky, unless we 
endanger having it burned, whereas if it is 
stirred we can have dry hard candy, of what 
would be only wax if cooled suddenly with- 
out the stirring. Besides Ave have much 
more moisture in the stirred sugar candy, 
and we want all the moisture we can possi- 
bly have, consistent with ease in handling. 

If your candy is burned, no amount fo 
boiling will make it hard, and your best 
way is to use it for cooking, or feeding the 
bees in summer weather. Burnt sugar is 
death to them, if fed in cold weather. You 
can tell when it is burned, by the smell, color, 
and taste. If you do not boil it enough, it 
will be soft and sticky in warm weather, and 
will be liable to drip when stored away. 
Perhaps you had better try a pound or two 
at first, while you " get your hand in." Our 
first experiment was with 50 lbs. ; it all got 
k ' scorched " " somehow. "' 



As the most convenient way of feeding 
candy that will probably be devised is to put 
it into your regular brood - frames [wired, 
as per p. 56), I shall give directions for mak- 
ing it in that form. If you do not like it so, 
you can break it out, or cut it in smaller 
pieces with a knife, when nearly cold. 

Lay your frame on a level table, or flat 
board ; perhaps you had better use the flat 
board, for you need some nails or wires driv- 
en into it, to hold your frame down close, 
that the candy may not run out under it. 
Before you fasten the frame down, you will 
need to put a sheet of thin paper on your 
board, to prevent the candy's sticking. Fix 
the board exactly level, and you are all ready 
to make your candy. If you have many 
stocks that need feeding, you can get along 
faster by having several boards with frames 
fastened on them. You will need some sort 
of a sauce-pan (any kind of a tin pan with 
a handle attached will do) that will hold 
about 10 lbs. of sugar. Put in a little water 
—no vinegar, cream of tartar, or any thing 
of the sort is needed, whatever others may 
tell you— and boil it until it is ready to sugar 
j off. You can determine when this point is 
reached, by stirring some in a saucer, or you 
can learn to test it as confectioners do, by 
dipping your finger in a cup of cold water, 
then in the kettle of candy, and back into 
the water again. When it breaks like egg- 
shells from the end of your finger, the candy 
is just right. Take it off the stove at once; 
and as soon as it begins to harden around 
the sides, give it a good stirring, and keep it 
i up until it gets so thick that you can just 
j pour it. Pour it into your frame, and get 
i in just as much as you can without running 
| it over. If it is done nicely, the slabs should 
look like marble when cold, and should be 
almost as clean and dry to handle. If you 
: omit the stirring, your candy will be clear 
like glass, but it will be sticky to handle and 
will be very apt to drip. The stirring causes 
( all the water to be taken up in the crystalli- 
zation or graining process, and will make 
hard dry sugar of what would have other- 
i wise been damp or waxy candy. If you 
wish to see how nicely it works for feed- 
ing bees, just hang out a slab and let the 
bees try it. They will carry it all away as 
peaceably as they would so much meal in 
the spring. 

You can feed bees witli this any day in 
the winter, by hanging a frame of it close 
up to the cluster of bees. If you put it 
into the hive in very cold weather, it would 
l»e well to keep it in a warm room, until 
well warmed through. Now remove one of 



CANDY FOR BEES. 



CATNIP. 



the outside combs containing no bees, if 
you can find such a one, spread the cluster, 
and hang the frame in the center. Cover 
the bees at the sides and above, with cush- 
ions, and thev will be all safe. If a colony 
needs only a little food, you can let them 
lick off what they like, and set the rest away 
until another time, or until another season. 

WHAT KIND OF SUGAR TO USE FOR MAK- 
ING CANDY. 

We have generally used the coffee A, but 
any of the sugars that are used for feeding 
will answer for summer. Common brown 
and maple sugars work nicely, although it 
is plain to be seen that the bees prefer the 
better article; for this reason, we have used 
the latter. Coffee A sugar now costs us 9c. 
by the barrel, and retails for 10 c. As we 
have to pay a confectioner 2 c. for making, 
the candy can not well be sold at retail for 
less than lo c. As much as ± part of wheat 
flour can be added to the sugar and it will be 
nearly as white and hard ; but the labor of 
making is very much more, for it must be 
boiled very slowly, and stirred to prevent 
burning. The bees seem to prefer that con- 
taining the flour, and it has the effect of 
hastening brood-rearing, like pollen. After 
it is stored in combs, it looks like honey 
except for a slightly milky or turbid appear- 
ance, but has a very perceptible flour taste.* 

CAUTION IN REGARD TO CANDY-MAKING. 

Before you commence, make up your mind 
you will not get one drop of sugar or syrup 
on the floor or table. Keep your hands clean, 
and every thing else clean, and let the wo- 
men-folks see that men have common sense ; 
some of them at least. If you should forget 
yourself, and let the candy boil over on the 
stove, it would be very apt to get on the 
floor, and then you would be very likely to 
"get your foot in it," and before you got 
through, you might wish you had never 
heard of bees or candy either; and your wife, 
if she did not say so, might wish she had 
never heard of anything that brought a man 
into the kitchen. I have had a little experi- 
ence in the line of feet sticking to the floor 
and snapping at every step you take, and 
with door-knobs sticking to the fingers when 
touched, but it was in the honey-house. We 
have a 50-cent stove— came from the tin- 
smith 's old iron heap— that has been made 
to look quite respectable, and proves very 
handy for melting candied honey, making 



* Maple sugar, poured into wired frames while hot, 
makes excellent bee-candy. Cakes of maple sugar 
laid over the frames answer equally well. 



candy, warming syrup in cold weather, etc.; 
and if you keep a wash-basin and towel 
near by, and keep the honey-house neat and 
clean, it is a real pleasure to do all this work. 

CATNIP. [Nepata Cataria). This is a 
near relative of Gill-over-tiie-ground, 
which see. Quinby has said, that if he 
were to grow any plant exclusively for the 
honey it produced, that plant would be Cat- 
nip ; and very likely he was not far from 
right. But as we have never yet had any 
definite report from a sufficient field of it to 
test it alone, either in quality or quantity of 
the honey, we remain almost as much in the 
dark in regard to it as we were at the time 
he made the statement, several years ago. 
Several have cultivated it in small patches, 
and have reported that in a state of cultiva- 
tion it apparently yielded more honey than 
in its wild state, for bees are found on it 
almost constantly, for several months in the 
year; yet no one, I believe, is prepared to 
say positively that it would pay to cultivate 
it for this purpose. 

CIDHB. AND CIDER MILLS. Not 
only are many of our bees drowned in the 
eider, in the vicinity of cider -mills, but 
the cider, if gathered late in the season, is 
quite apt to prove very unwholesome as a 
diet for our little friends. Probably much 
of the dysentery that causes such havoc is 
the result of this unsealed cider stored in 
the cells when winter comes on. If the col- 
ony is very strong, and well supplied with 
winter stores, the cider may do but little 
harm ; but where they are weak, and obliged 
to use the cider largely, they sometimes die 
even in the fall. We at one time fed a col- 
ony about a gallon of sweet cider, and they 
were dead before Christmas. At another 
time a barrel of sweet cider was found to be 
leaking, but as the^bees took it up greedily 
as fast as it ran out, their "owner kindly al- 
lowed them to work away. They all died 
quite promptly, after the experiment. 

The bees of a large apiary will take sweet 
cider from the mill nearly as fast as it can 
be made, and we at one time had quite a se- 
rious time with the owner of such a mill, 
because the Italians insisted on " going 
shares," whenever he made sweet cider. 
After paying quite a little sum in the way of 
damages, and losing our bees every season 
there was a large apple-crop, besides buying 
sugar in the vain attempt to call them away 
by counter-inducements, we, at the sugges- 
tion of one of the other sex, hung white cloth 
curtains over all the openings to the mill. 
Some strips of pine, $2.50 worth of sheeting 



CLOVER. 



2i yards wide, and a couple of hours 1 time, 
fixed the mill so that scarcely a bee was to 
be seen inside. In a very short time they 
gave up flying around the mill, and appar- 
ently forgot all about it. 

CLOVER {Trifolium). The most im- 
portant of the Clovers, common White Clo- 
ver (Trifolium Bepens), which everybody 
knows, is perhaps at the head of the entire 
list of honey-producing plants. AVe could 
better spare any of the rest, and I might al- 
most say all the rest, than our White Clover 
that grows so plentifully as to be almost un- 
noticed almost everywhere. But little ef- 
fort has been made to raise it from the seed, 
because of the difficulty of collecting and 
saving it. 

There is a large variety known as White 
Dutch Clover, that is sold by our seedsmen, 
to some extent. I have not been able to 
gather whether it is superior to the common. 
The common Red Clover — T. pratense — 
yields honey largely some seasons, but not 
as generally as does the white, nor do the 
bees work on it for as long a period. 18 While 
working on Red Clover, the bees bring in 
small loads of a peculiar dark-green pollen; 
and by observing this we can usually tell 
when they are bringing in Red - Clover 
honey. The Italians will often do finely on 
Red Clover, while the common black bees 
will not even so much as notice it. The 
general cultivation is much like that of Al- 
sike Clover, which see ; but the safest way 
for a beginner is to consult some good farm- 
er in his own neighborhood, as different lo- 
calities require slightly different treatment. 
The same will apply to saving the seed, 
which can hardly be saved profitably with- 
out the use of a clover - huller, made espe- 
cially for the purpose. 

While most persons seem to tire, in time, 
of almost any one kind of honey, that from 
Clover seems to " wear" like bread, butter, 
and potatoes ; for it is the great staple in 
the markets; and where one can recommend 
his honey as being pure White Clover, he 
has said about all lie can for it. 

There are quite a number of other clovers 
such as Lucerne, white and yellow Trefoil, 
Alfalfa, Esparcette,etc.,but none have been 
sufficiently tested to warrant recommending 
them much. Strong statements are made 
in regard to the value of white and yellow 
Sweet Clovers; and the former, under the 
name of Melilotus Leucantha, was quite ex- 
tensively sold some years ago. From the 
fact that those who invested in it gradually 
dropped it, I would not advise investing 
much money in it to commence with. 



52 COMB-BASKET. 

Sweet Clover {Melilotus alba, or Melilot), 
has some valuable traits, as standing frost 
and drought ; but many times and seasons, 
the bees will hardly notice it at all. The 
statement has been made, that an acre will 
support 20 colonies of bees, and afford from 
500 to 1000 lbs. of honey. As it is quite dif- 
ficult to get accurate figures in the matter, I 
think the statement should be received with 
due allowance ; about 4 lbs. of seed are need- 
ed for an acre, sow like alsike. It will grow 
on almost any barren hillside, but it is a 
bad weed to exterminate ; if ,however, it is 
mown down to prevent seeding, the roots 
will soon die out.* 

COMB- BASKET. When the bees are 
gathering no honey, especially during the 
lull that usually intervenes between spring 
and fall pasturage, it is many times quite 
difficult to remove combs of brood, or open 
hives at all, without getting robbers at work . 
Any one who has had quite a time with rob- 
bing - bees, will remember for some 
days, that it makes trouble to leave a comb 
outside the hive while we are handling oth- 
ers inside. Robbing - bees will get at them, 
and soon they will learn to follow us about, 
and finally "dive" right into the unsealed 
honey the minute a comb is exposed. Sup- 
pose we do not have robbers ; still, when we 
take a frame out of a hive, it is very conven- 
ient to have some place where we can set it 
down safely, while we look at the rest. If 
w r e stand them up against the hive, or one 
of the posts of the grapevine trellis, unless 
we are very careful, bees are killed; and if 
the day is a windy one, the comb is quite 
apt to be blown down in the dirt. To avoid 
all these mishaps, we have sometimes car- 
ried about an empty hive; but this is un- 
wieldy, and does not keep away robbers 
either, unless a cover is carried with it. 
Comb-baskets have been made of wood, but 
these are unsightly unless kept painted; and 
if any honey drips from the combs, it soaks 
into the wood in a way that is far from be- 
ing tidy. The one shown in the engraving 
is made of light tin, and I believe meets 
all requirements. 

It can be readily carried from hive to hive, 
and the light cover is very quickly closed 
bee-tight, whenever occasion may require. 
Where extracting is done indoors, the bas- 
ket can be used to very good advantage, for 



* Sepf.,1880.— We have had. this season, half an acre 
covered with a most luxuriant growth of melilot, but 
it certainly is not a profitable honey-plant with us. 

Nov., 1882.— This season the bees have been so ex- 
ceedingly busy on it, we have materially changed 
our opinion, and are preparing to give it a more ex- 
tended trial. 



COMB FOUNDATION. 



COMB FOUNDATION. 




COMB-BASKET. 

five heavy combs are about as many as one 
cares to carry at once. The combs should 
hang on metal rabbets the same as they do 
in the hive, to avoid crushing bees when 
they are set in hastily. Your tin-smith 
should be able to make you one like the 
above, for about $1.25. 

COMB FOUNDATION. Since the in- 
troduction of foundation, within the past few 
years, many difficult points have been solved 
completely ; such as, how to insure straight 
combs, how to insure all worker-comb or all 
drone-comb, as the case may be, and how to 
furnish the bees with the wax they need 
without being obliged to secrete it by the 
consumption of honey. It is so simple a 
matter to make a practical test of it by 
hanging a piece in a hive when honey is 
coming in, that I think I may be excused 
from describing the way in which the bees 
use it, at any great length. Neither will it 
be needful to dwell on the successive steps 
by which it was discovered, and brought to 
its present state of perfection. The first 
mention we have of wax foundations that 
were accepted by the bees, was published in 
a German bee-journal as far back as 1857. 
Mr. J. Mehring, of Frankinthal, Germany, 
if I am correct, seems to have been the 
original inventor. For nearly 20 years the 
matter seems to have slumbered, although 
different ones at different times, among 
whom was our friend Wagner, took it up, 
made some improvements, and dropped it 
again. The sheets made in both England 
and Germany had no side-walls, but simply 
indentations. Mr. "Wagner added shallow 
side- walls, making it much more like nat- 
ural comb. Until recently it was all made 
with a pair of plates • and even yet the 
Given press is used and liked by some; 
but it did not require much wisdom to 
decide that such an article, if wanted in 
large quantities, should be rolled out by 
machinery. In the latter part of 1875 I 



talked with a friend of mine who is quite an 
artist in the way of fine mechanical work 
and machinery, and told him what I thought 
was wanted. The result was that he made 
a machine for me, of which I submit the en- 
graving below, that would roll out a con- 
tinuous sheet, with very fair side-walls of 
wax, and perhaps superior to any thing be- 
fore made. Since then he has made ma- 
chines for many parties in our own 
country, and they have also been sent to 
both England and Scotland. Mr. A. Wash- 
burn, of Medina, O., is the inventor and 
manufacturer of these machines. Many tons 
of wax have been worked up during the 
present year — 1877 — and the demand is in- 
creasing so steadily that it is quite probable 
the supply of wax will be the only limit to 
its manufacture and use. 




ORIGINAL FOUNDATION-MACHINE WITH 12-IN. KOl.t.S. 

Many experiments have been made with a 
view of substituting something in place of 
real beeswax, such as paraffine, ceresin, and 
the like, but all, so far, have resulted in fail- 
ure. Paraffine will make beautiful fdn., and 
the bees will accept it at once ; but as soon as 
we have warm summer weather, the beauti- 
ful comb, honey and all, will fall down in a 
shapeless mass in the bottom of the hive. 

HOW TO MAKE THE WAX SHEETS. 

This is done by dipping a sheet of thin 
wood in a tall vessel of melted wax. The 

4 



COMB FOUNDATION. 



COMB FOUNDATION. 



wax must be neither too hot nor too cold, 
and the dipping-plate must be kept wet by 
immersing it in tepid water before each sheet 
is dipped. The dipping-plate is about one- 
fourth inch in thickness, 9i wide, and about 
3G inches long, with the edges rounded to a 
blunt knife-edge. This size will give sheets 
of such size that each one will make two 
for an L. frame. When the plate is first 
used, you will probably have to soak it for 
a time with water, to make the wax come, 
off readily ; and when it gets roughened 
it must be dried and scraped or sand- 
papered until it is smooth again. Brush 
the water over the plate well, to make 
it adhere, and you are then ready to plunge 
it into the melted wax. When it touches 
bottom, lift it out immediately, and hold it 
above the melted wax until the wax has 
cooled enough to allow it to be dipped the 
other end down. We usually dip four times ; 
but if the wax is pretty warm, you may have 
to dip six times. After the last dipping, as 
soon as it has ceased to drip, dip it all over in 
the tub or tank of cool water. Take it out 
and commence to strip off the sheets. If too 
hot, the wax will break, and if too cold it will 
stick ; in the latter case you must scrape the 
wax off with a knife, and try again. After 
a little practice, you will make it go as fast 
as the sheets can be handled. Two hands 
are needed to work rapidly. One dips, 
and the other takes off the sheets, and 
brushes and wipes the dipping-plates. Now 
your tub of water will very soon get warm ; 
and as this will not do at all, cold water 
must be added. If much work is to be 
done, a tank made of boards is best, with an 
apartment for cold water in one end of it. 
Besides, the wax will be rapidly cooled, and 
at the same time lowered ; to keep up the 
supply, we have a boiler on the stove, with 
a honey-gate attached. This boiler is made 
large enough to take in the ordinary cakes 
of wax of commerce, and should be made 
deep so as to set down into the stove for the 
purpose of getting the advantage of rapid 
heating, and to allow all impurities to settle. 
Besides this, the boiler must be made dou- 
ble, and the outer space filled with water ; for 
if wax is burned in the least, it is utterly 
spoiled for comb-making. That we may get 
only the pure wax, the gate is put in near 
the top of the boiler, so that none of the im- 
.purities that settle to the bottom may be 
drawn off, and it has a sheet of fine wire 
cloth put in so as to strain the melted wax 
before it passes through it. In our factory, 
the wax is melted by a series of copper pipes 
through which steam passes. See Wax. 



The tin can that holds these pipes is simply 
the can of the honey -extractor, as seen on 
another page. 

Wax sheeted in this way is of a light beau- 
tiful yellow, and the fdn. is fit for use in the 
surplus boxes, without any sort of bleaching. 
When you start up, your dipping-boiler must 
be full of melted wax, and we have this also 
made double, with hot water all round it, 
that we may set it in the stove in place of 
the other when starting. With the above 
arrangement and number of hands, 200 lbs. 
can easily be dipped in a day. Separate 
lots of wax can not well be worked alone, 
unless of 100 lbs. or more ; as the above pro- 
cess will make bright wax out of the worst 
looking, it can hardly be thought desirable, 
to work lots separately. 

May, 1884.— During the past two or three 
years the demand for foundation has been 
so great that tons of wax have been import- 
ed; and even with this supply, the price of 
wax still ranges from 35 to 40 cts. per lb. 

ROLLING THE WAX SHEETS. 

The machine shoAvn below is the size for 
the Langstroth frame for rolling sheets 9 
inches wide. We at first covered the rolls 
with a lather made of soap and water, to 
prevent the wax sticking ; but, for obvious 
reasons, slippery elm was substituted for 
the soap, and afterward it was found that 




FOUNDATION MACHINE WITH 10-IN. ROLLS. 

starch, prepared just as the women use it, 
was just as good as anything. When the 
rolls are new, the wax will sometimes both- 
er a great deal ; but if the particles are care- 
fully picked out with a quill toothpick — any 
thing harder might injure the rolls — and the 
rolls, as well as the sheet of w r ax, are kept well 
covered with the starch, it will soon come 
out nicely. As soon as the edge gets 
through, it is to be picked up with the fin- 



COMB FOUNDATION". 



00 



COMB FOUNDATION. 



gers, then held between two pieces of wood, 
and drawn out as fast as the rolls are turned. 
Two hands, after a little practice, will roll it, 
with a 10-inch machine, about as fast as it 
can be dipped! The sheets roll with less 
trouble from sticking, if allowed to stand a 
couple of days after being dipped, as the 
wax hardens slightly by being exposed to 
the air. This explains why bleached 
wax is harder than the common yellow. On 
this account, the bees work the bleached 
wax so much slower, that I would not advise 
its use, even for box honey. 

TRIMMING, SQUARING, AND CUTTING THE 
SHEETS. 

As the sheets are taken from the rolls, lay 
them squarely upon each other until you 
have a pile 2 or 3 inches high. Now lay on 
them a board cut the exact size you wish the 
fdn. to be, and with a sharp, thin-bladed, 
butcher or other knife, cut through the 
whole, all around the board. To prevent 
the knife from sticking, clip it occasionally 
in the starch, such as is used in rolling the 
sheets. To have the knife work nicely, you 
should have a coarse whetstone near by, 
with which to keep the edge keen. As the 
board is liable to shrink, warp, and get the 
edges whittled off, where a great number of 
sheets of a particular size is wanted, we 
have frames, made sharp on their edges and 
lined with tin. The tin is folded, and put 
on so that the edge of the knife does not 
strike it, if the blade is held in the proper 
position. 

To cut sheets 12 by 18, Ave have a frame 
made as follows : 




FRAMES FOR CUTTING SHEETS FOR BROOD- 
FRAMES. 

The diagonal piece in figure 1 serves as a 
brace to keep it true and square, and also 
for a handle to lift it by. The frame is 
placed over the sheet so as to cut to the best 
advantage, and the knife is run around it. 
Figure 1 is for cutting sheets 12 by 18, and 
figure 2 for the L. frame, 8 by 16i in. For 
the wired frames shown on the next page, 
the sheets are to be cut 8|xl7i. 

For cutting a great number of small pieces, 
such as starters for sections, a pair of 
frames like those shown in the engravings 
in next column are very convenient. 

Fig. 1 is composed of seven i-inch strips, 
II inches wide, by about 20 inches long. 



The spaces are just wide enough to allow 
the knife to run between them. Fig. 2 is 
composed of the same number of boards, 
but they are 31 wide, by about 16 long. You 
will observe that this allows one frame to be 
placed over the other, each fitting in be- 
Fig. 1. 




Fig. 2. 




3IACHINE FOR CUTTING STARTERS FOR SEC- 
TION BOXES. 

tween the cleats of the other. To use the 
machine, place a sheet (or sheets) of fdn., 
say 12 by 18, on Fig. 1, and lay Fig. 2 over 
it. Bun the knife through all the spaces, 
and then turn the whole machine over. Now 
run it through as before, and your sheet is 
cut into oblong pieces, just such as we put 
in the 4i section boxes when we ship them 
in complete hives. We should, perhaps, use 
pieces somewhat larger, were it not that 
there would be greater danger of their 
breaking out with the rough handling they 
get when the hives are sent by freight. The 
pieces, as made with the above frames, are 
If by 31 inches.* If much work is to be done 
with these frames, they had better be cov- 
ered with tin, like the frames before men- 
tioned. 

FOUNDATION FOR C03IB HONEY. 

The only trouble with it for comb honey 
is that, under some circumstances occurring 
very rarely I believe, the bees will build on to 
the foundation, without thinning the center 
at all, as they usually do. I believe this is 

*At this date, May,'1883, the decision is strongly in 
favor of having- the thin foundation entirely till the 
sections, and for the Simplicity sections, they are 
cuto 3 4 x 3 i, made of foundation with the base about 
as thin as natural comb. If the foundation is prop- 
erly made, the honey will be in no respect different 
from that stored in haturaleomb. 



COMB FOUNDATION. 



56 



COMB FOUNDATION 



more apt to occur when a good yield of hon- 
ey comes during rather cool weather, the 
bees being unable to get the wax warm 
enough to work readily. The remedy for 
this will be in making the base of the cells 
of the fdn. exceedingly thin, and the small 
5-inch machines seem best for this purpose. 
"We have made machines for making the 
fdn. four, four and a half, and five cells to 
the inch. The latter is now agreed by all, I 
believe, to be best for the brood-apartment, 
the others being used for comb honey. As 
the queen is not much disposed to lay eggs in 
the fdn. 44 cells to the inch, it may serve an 
excellent purpose ; but as the bees can work 
the fdn. with 4 cells to the inch (drone 
comb) faster than any other during a yield 
of honey, this size will perhaps be used. 

For box honey or sections, we want the 
base of the cell about as thin as natural 
comb ; and to get this, we screw the rolls 
down close and roll only narrow strips, say 
3t inches wide, for the 1-lb. sections. Wide 
sheets can not be rolled vey thin. 

Foundation with flat - bottoim d cells is 
used by the bees, but I can net think with 
the same facility as that having the natural 
shape. 




CARLIN S KOUN'DATION-C UTTER. 

This implement was invented by C. E. 
Carlin, of Shreveport, La.', and is intended 
to take the place of a knife. It is cheaply 
made, with a wheel of tin, but better ones 
have a steel wheel. After using it one sea- 
son, we find that the greater part of our 
hands prefer a knife. 

SAGGING OF THE FOUNDATION. 

At the time of this writing (Nov., 1882), 
many devices are being tried to prevent the 
sagging of the fdn., and consequently slight 
elongation of the cells, in the upper part of 
the comb. With the L. frames, this is so 
slight that it occasions no serious trouble 
with the greater part of the wax of com- 
merce; but with deeper frames, or with some 
specimens of natural wax, the sagging is 
sufficient to allow the bees to raise drones in 
the upper cells. Paper has been tried, and 
succeeds beautifully, while the bees are get- 
ting honey ; but during a dearth, when they 
have nothing to do, they are liable at any 
time to tear the nice combs all to bits, to get 
out the paper, which I have supposed they 
imagine to be the web of the moth-worm. 
In our apiary I have beautiful combs built 



on thin wood ; but as the bottom of the cell 
is flat, they are compelled to use wax to fill 
out the interstices, and the value of this 
surplus wax, it seems to me, throws the 
wood base entirely out of the question. I 
do not like the fdn. with wire rolled in it, on 
account of the greater expense, and because 
we cannot fasten it in the frames as securely 
as we can where the wires are first sewed 
through the frames. 

Aside from the production of drone-cells, 
we want combs that will not break out of 
the frames in shipping, handling, or extract- 
ing, in either hot or cold weather ; we also 
want frames that will not sag, no matter 
how heavily they may be filled with honey. 
For several seasons I have been using combs 
in which the fdn. w r as rubbed against fine 
wires stretched across the frame, and w r e 
have now in our apiary a thousand or more 
combs so strong that, although they are new 
combs just built out, they can be thrown on 
to the floor, without any danger of injury. 
Not only this, but by a couple of diagonal 
wires and center-bars of folded tin we have 
braced the frames so there is no more sag- 
ging of the top and bottom bars, even though 
they are less than 1 of an inch in thickness. 



<] 






i 







L. FRAME WIUJSDJkKADY FOR USE. 

The wires are put in, as in the cut shown 
above, with the thin bar of tin in the center, 
to support the top-bar. 

The wire used is No. £0, tinned iron wire. 
After the wires are in and drawn up tight, 
the foundation is cut so as to fill the frame, 
and the wires are then imbedded into the 
wax by means of one of the various devices 
for that purpose. Duiing this operation the 
foundation is supported on a level board cut 
so as to just slip inside the frame, and come 
up against the wires. The board is to be 
kept wet with a damp cloth, to prevent the 
wax sticking to it. It is to be turned once, 
of course, to fasten the wires on each side. 




IMPLEMENT FOR FASTENING THE FOUNDA- 
TION TO THE WIRES. 

Until quite recently we have used a sol- 
dering-iron with a grooved curved point, as 



COMB FOUNDATION, i 

shown in the cut. A pair of the irons 
are used, one being kept warm by a lamp. 
Of late, however, the soldering-irons have 
been discarded in favor of a common carpet- 
stretcher. 

A common carpet - stretcher, like the 
cut below, is fitted with a short handle, 
and then the wax is 
warmed up so as to be 
quite soft. The wires 
are imbedded by laying 
the points along the 
wire, and pressing down 
while the fdn. is sup- 
ported as in the preced- 
ing cut. The advan- 
tage of the carpet- carpet-stretcher. 
stretcher is, that none of the cells are in any 
way injured, as is the case with the soldering- 
iron method that was first used. With the 
latter, we sometimes have a row of drone- 
cells where the wire passed ; but with the 
carpet-stretcher, the bees finish out the cells 
as perfectly as if nothing of the kind had 
ever touched them. It may be well to add, 
that the foundation is put in the frame in 
such a way that the diagonal wires are on 
one side of the sheet, while the vertical 
wires are on the other. The wires are im- 
bedded first on one side and then on the" 
other. 

Still later, the implement figured in 
the cut below has found favor, and our 




COMB FOUNDATION. 

wire used for it must be considerably finer 
than No. SO. No. 36, 1 believe, is generally 
used, and this we find too frail for our use, 
shipping bees, etc. As yet, I believe it does 
not put foundation into wired frames so that 
they will bear shipment, while that put in by 




EASTERDAY'S FOUNDATION - FASTENER. 

girls now consider it quicker and easier than 
any other plan heretofore tried. You see, 
the points strike one at a time, therefore no 
very great pressure is needed ; and yet by 
rocking the implement the work is done very 
rapidly. 

GIVEN FOUNDATION-PRESS. 

This press is just now finding considera- 
ble favor. With a pair of dies just the size 
of the inside of the frame, plain sheets of 
wax are made into foundation by imbedding 
the wires into it at one and the same opera- 
tion. The price is a little more than the 
price of rolls. The objections to it are, that 
it makes sheets of only one size ; that the 




GIVEN FOUNDATION-PRESS. 

hand can be shipped safely anywhere during 
warm weather. Neither is it adapted to 
making sheets of foundation that entirely 
fill the frames; and I should always want 
the sheets to come clear up to the wood on 
all sides. As the manufacturers are improv- 
ing these presses continually, they may 
eventually make them to surmount all the 
difficulties mentioned. 

FASTENING STARTERS IN SECTION BOXES. 

For this purpose the foundation is made 
in narrow strips, as has been before explain- 
ed. For the Simplicity section we have dip- 
ping-boards 31 inches wide ; and after being 
rolled, they are then cut up into pieces that 
nearly fill the sections, or as much less as the 
taste or purse of the bee-keeper demands. 
The pieces are fastened only to the top-bar 
of the section, and this is done by either of 
the machines shown on next page. The idea 
is, to simply rub a thin edge of the wax into 
the dry wood of the section. The motion of 
the machine spreads the wax down, and 
mashes it into the wood, as it were. It is 



COMB HONEY. I 

then tipped with the fingers so as to hang 
straight down, and the sections are ready to 
go into th 3 hives. Gray's machine is work- 
ed by foot power. 




PACKER MACHINE FOR FASTENING START- 
ERS IN SECTIONS. 




GRAY S MACHINE FOR FASTENING START- 
ERS IN SECTIONS. 

To use this machine, fasten it to a bench 
or table, so the treadle jnst clears the floor. 
Before putting in your sections with founda- 
tion, moisten the lower edge of the block c, 
where it touches the foundation; with a 
brush accompanying. Place the foundation 
so the block will just catch the edge of the 
wax. then push toward the table with your 
foot, until the wax is rubbed into the wood, 
and the section slides nearly from under the 
machine. The foundation should be warm 
enough to be quite soft. If it is cool, place 
it in the sun, near the stove, or near a heat- 
ed fiat-iron, until it gets well softened. As 
you lift out your sections, place them in 
your wide frames or crates. By adjusting 
the little strip that touches the section, you 
can make it fasten the foundation just in 
the center of the section. 

COMB HONEY. I would have comb 
honey stored in section frames, instead of 
boxes, because they are clean and nice to 
handle, can be retailed without the trouble- 
some daubing, and, above all, because the 



! COMB HONEY. 

public will pay a much higher price for hon- 
ey in that shape. For the same reason, I 
would have the sections small. I would also 
have them made to fit inside of your regular 
hive-frame, or rather in a wide frame, made 
of exactly the same dimensions. This sim- 
plifies the work greatly, because we can 
then hang a frame of sections in any hive, 
and in either the upper or lower story, as we 
may have occasion. This is a great conve- 
nience, for it enables us to get nice comb 
honey from any colony, however weak, by 
simply hanging a frame of these sections, on 
one or both sides of the brood -combs. If 
the bees have been kept in a small space, so 
that every comb is occupied with brood and 
pollen at the approach of the honey season, 
they will start in the sections almost at once, 
if they are given them just as soon as they 
begin to be crowded for room. Give them a 
single frame at first, and when they are well 
at work in this, give them another. Do not 
put on an upper story until they are ready 
to go into it in large numbers. Do not let 
the bees, by any means, get to 

CLUSTERING ON THE OUTSIDE OF THE 
HIVES. 

If you have been " up and dressed, and on 
hand," they will seldom commence this 
when honey is to be had in the fields; but if 
a strong colony gets to hanging out prepara- 
tory to swarming, you must get them into 
the boxes at all hazards. The first thing is 
to be sure they have room near the brood ; 
the next, that the hive is properly shaded ; 
and we have found it a good thing, many 
times, to drive them in with smoke. After 
they once get started at work, you will sel- 
dom have trouble with them, but a little 
neglect may be the means of losing a fine 
crop of honey. Sections partly filled out by 
other colonies will almost invariably set 
them at work. If you can do no better, di- 
vide them ; but I should try every thing else 
before doing this, if my object were comb 
honey. 

HOW TO REMOVE THE FILLED SECTIONS. 

I do not know that I ever really enjoyed 
any work in the apiary more, and that is 
saying a great deal, than taking off these 
little section boxes. 

1 hardly know which plan is quicker; to 
remove a whole upper story and let the bees 
leave it and go back into the hive before the 
sections are taken out, or to pick out the 
filled sections as fast as completed, and re- 
place them with empty ones. Where you 
have a large number of hives with the boxes 
mostly filled, I would adopt the former plan. 



COMB HONEY. 



59 



COMB HONEY. 



Lift off the upper story and place it in front 
of the hive. Now on this first hive place an 
empty upper story filled with sections and 
fdn. After the bees are all or nearly all out, 
sort out the finished sections, and put the 
unfilled ones with new sections to fill it out, 
into an upper story for the next hive, and 
so on, until we get through. The bees will 
work on sections partly filled from another 
hive , just as well as on those from their own. as 
far as we have been able to discover. Where 
the work is considerable, a cheap hand can 
do the sorting and crating as well as any one 
else. A girl that is careful, one who will 
not scatter the sections and knock them 
over against each other, is just what you 
want. They are to be handled just like 
eggs, and the fingers should be so clean 
that they will not soil white paper. If you 
wish your honey to bring the highest price, 
you must insist that no sections are left 
standing about, but that each case or upper 
story is finished and covered up before an- 
other is opened. There are but two places 
for all that are found, either in the shipping- 
case or in the upper stories to go on the 
next hive. (If you have been so careless as 
to have some of the fdn. starters that have 
dropped out, you had better send such sec- 
tions of honey to the children of some of 
your neighbors who do not keep bees). If 
you wish nice clean true work, 

ALWAYS USE THE TIN SEPARATORS.* 

Although you can get sections that do 
very well as a general thing without them, 
the expense and bother of having a comb 
built so that it must be broken before the 
sections can be separated, or of having even 
one in 50 bulged into its neighbors in a way 
that would prevent its going into the packing 
case, would, with us, pay for the separators 
for the whole lot, especially as one set will 
answer for a lifetime, so far as we know. 
After the wide frames are procured, with 
the separators, the only expense is I cent 
each for the sections, and yon are not obliged 
to go to this expense even, until the first lot 
are filled and ready to sell. 

If you are using the chaff hives, or if you 
have only a few hives, or if honey is coming 
so slowly that only a small part of the sec- 
tions are ready to remove, it will be your 
better way to lift the frames, take out the 
filled sections and replace them with empty 
ones, without brushing the bees off at all. 
If the sections are set down near the en- 



trance, or, if more convenient, on the top of 
the frames you have just examined, the bees 
will be nearly all off as soon as you are ready 
to close the hive. It is a very easy matter 
to take out the finished sections and leave 
the others, when you once get the hang of 
it. You can get out the first 2-inch frame 
without killing a single bee ; see Hive-Mak- 
ing. Stand this at one side of the hive 
in the shade, or in an empty hive if robbers 
are about much, and then proceed to lift out 
the next one. Now there is a very conveni- 
ent way of supporting a frame, while you 
are cutting out or inserting queen-cells, re- 
moving a queen for caging, clipping a 
queen's wings, removing section boxes, and 
doing a variety of other things ; and to be 
sure to make it plain, I will give you a dia- 
gram. 




*May, 1884.— A number of our successful honey- 
raisers are, at present, using sections iy 2 or ? s inches 
wide without separators, and give reports of consid- 
erable success. 



Let A B C D represent the hive or the up- 
per story of a hive ; the frame of sections is 
shown with one of the ends of the top-bar 
resting in its usual place in the rabbet, while 
the bottom-bar of the frame rests on the op- 
posite rabbet. One advantage of this meth- 
od of support is that all, or nearly all, the 
bees will run off from the lower corner- 
shown by the dotted lines— on to the frames 
below, and we thus avoid having them scat- 
tered about on the ground. It is very plain, 
that you have every facility in the world 
for getting out the upper corner sections, at 
E ; if those adjoining it are finished, they 
will come out equally easy, and there will 
be no danger of any of the rest sliding out of 
place while you are doing it, for they are 
held securely by gravity ; when these are all 
out, and their places supplied with empty 
ones, you are ready to take those from the 
other end in the same way. If the bottom 
sections are all filled before the upper ones, 
simply turn the frame upside down ; your 
frame is held securely, and you have both 
hands to work with. When done, put it in 
place of the first removed, and so on until 
the whole are finished. If you leave the 
honey in the hive until the bees have stopped 
gathering, you will have to get it off in a 
hurry, or they (especially hybrids) will un- 



COMB HONEY. 



COMB HONEY. 



cap and cany it below just the minute you 
commence work with them. Drive them 
down with smoke, then get out your honey. 
The engraving below gives a very good 
idea of the sections we use and recommend. 
They are 4i inches square, and 11 inches 
thick. I prefer this size, because they con- 
tain just about 1 lb. of honey, and 8 of them 
just till a Langstroth frame. While these 
have commanded 2oc per lb. at wholesale, 
sections that held from H to 2 lbs. have on- 
ly brought from 20 to 22c. This is too great 
a difference to lose, so long as the bees will 
put it in one shape just as well as the oth- 
er. We have tried a great variety of sizes, 



GETTING BEES OUT OF BOXES, OR OFF FROM 
COMB HONEY. 

I presume not many of the friends will 
have honey stored in the old-fashioned box- 
es, with glass in the ends ; but if they should 
do so, it is sometimes quite desirable to 
know how to get the bees out quickly. We 
sometimes take a whole case of sections 
from a hive at once, and wish to get the bees 
all out without going to the trouble of break- 
ing each section loose from the waxing that 
the bees put on it. With the crate that 
goes under the half-story cover, this is often 
quite desirable. The old-fashioned way of 
doing this was to drive out as many bees as 




A SECTION BOX FILLED WITH HONEY, 



but the bees seem somewhat loth to store 
honey in any tiling very much less in size ; 
some, 2i inches in size, were very well filled, 
but it was only after they had filled all the 
larger ones placed in the same hive. 

Of course, you will be methodical enough 
to have your shipping-case by your side when 
removing sections, that you may put them 
in their places as fast as they are removed. 
We can not afford to handle things unnec- 
essarily, to say nothing of having our work 
scattered about, and in danger of being for- 
gotten or tumbled down in the dirt. When 
you have your cases filled, tack on a ship- 
ping-tag, with your own address on it, as 
well as the address of your honey-merchant, 
and it is ready to go. If after a few days you 
should find traces of worms, see Bee Morn. 

Is it not a satisfaction to have every pound 
of your honey sold the very minute you get 
it off the hives, and to have none standing 
around in the way, waiting for a purchaser 
to come along V 



possible with smoke, then put all your boxes 
into a large box or barrel, and spread over 
this a thin white sheet or cloth. Bees, in 
trying to get up to the light, will in time 
cluster on this cloth, when it may be turned 
over, and so on until all are out. Fasten 
the cloth down so the wind will* not blow it 
off, or you may have a big rumpus, and but 
little honey left. 

A friend of mine once removed his whole 
crop of comb honey, and placed it in the or- 
chard to let the bees crawl out at their leis- 
ure. This was in the fall, after the bass- 
wood yield had ceased. It made such a row 
in that neighborhood that the people have 
hardly forgotten about it yet. It was the 
first crop of honey he ever raised ; and while 
I think of it, I believe it was the last. See 
Robbing. 

Another friend once placed a large box of 
honey before an open window, and then 
wondered because the honey went out, and 
the bees came in all over the house. Well, 



COMB HONEY. 

it takes some time to watch the bees on the 
cloth, and turn it over every little while, so 
implements have been devised that would 
let bees out, but would not permit them to 
return. The wire-cloth covers figured at the 
close of the article on Drones worked pret- 
ty well for this purpose. Another device, 
much used by our English friends, is called 
a bee-trap. The bees, in going out, raise a 
pin, or nail ; and as this drops after them it 
makes a pretty sure thing of it. A young 
friend in our own country has devised a sim- 
ilar arrangement made of pins. We give an 
illustration of it below, and also his letter of 
explanation with it : 

My plan is to prepare a close-fitting box with an 
entrance (or, rather, place of exit) similar to that of 
the chaff hive ; over this entrance I have arranged 
a sort of trap so that the Dees can pass one way only. 
Take a wooden bar about the size of a lead-pencil, 
and put through it a row of common pins, about 7 to 
the inch; this must be swung on pivots, so that the 
pin-points may rest on the " jumping-off board." 




POUDER S BEE-TRAP. 

Just place your comb honey inside of this box, and 
no more is required. Now, friend Root, is the idea 
old, or is it too much machinery? I know it woi-ks 
well, for I have tried it. 

We want some one to invent a little bucket for the 
bees to carry when honey is abundant. Wouldn't 
that be nice, to see them skip out so early in the 
morning, and bring back honey by the pailful? 

Walter S. Pouder. 

Groesbeck, O., March 24, 1884. 

In the article on Honey-Houses, a plan 
is given to let the bees out at the window, 
but not permitting them to return again. 

MARKETING COMB HONEY. 

There is nothing that can make a bee-keeper feel 

better than clean cash for his surplus honey at the 

end of the season.— Adam Grimm, page 86, Vol. I., 

—Gleanings. 

Every thing, nowadays, depends on having 
goods neat, clean, and in an attractive 
shape, to have them "go off " readily, even 
our hoes have to be gilt-edged, for I noticed 
some at a hardware store a few days ago, 
and it seemed that those that were gilt, or 
bronzed, perhaps, were selling far in advance 
of the plain steel ones. We have been told 
of gilt-edged butter that sold for fabulous 
prices, but we hardly think it will be advi- 
sable to have our honey put up in that way, 
although we do wish it to look as well as any 
other of the products of the farm. 

BOXING UP COMB HONEY FOR SHIPPING. 

There is one caution suggested in the fol- 
lowing note from our commission-house in 



61 COMB HONEY. 

Cleveland/to whom we sent a couple of cases 
of sections as a sample. 

The sample of honey is very nice, and we think it 
will sell readily, but we can not tell at what price. 
Our opinion, however, based upon reports from oth- 
er markets, is that it will bring more now than later. 
If you have a stock of it, please send us a little lot ; 
do not on any account box it up invisibly tight, but 
pack it so the expressmen can see what they are 
handling. Give us your price and we will see how 
our market will respond ; by all means make it low 
enough to sell readily. Stair & Kendel. 

Cleveland, Ohio, July 5, 1877. 

You see, the hives would make the honey 
invisible, and, of course, the expressmen 
would smash it. Now, to determine about 
what sized package would be best, we sent 
to a manufacturer of fruit and berry crates, 
for they have determined, by much experi- 
ence, what is probably best. We procured a 
very pretty crate from Batterson, of Buffalo. 
It is strong, light, cheaply made, and has 
convenient handles to lift it by. Erom this 
we decided that we wanted a package com- 
posed of about 2 sections in height, 4 long- 
just as they stand in the hive— by 6 wide. 
This would make just 48 sections, and they 
weigh just about as nearly a pound each as 
they can well be made to do. The engrav- 
ing given on the next page will, we trust, 
make all plain. 

The glass is to slide in at the upper edge, 
after the box is all made. If a glass should 
be accidentally broken, one may be easily 
slipped in by simply unscrewing the cover. 

The end boards are of f stuff, 9i inches 
wide, by 12 long. They are rabbeted at 
both upper and lower edge to let in the tops 
and bottoms, which are of f stuff. The ends 
of the end -boards are also rabbeted just 
enough to receive the glass ; this is done by 
a single saw-cut. Strips of f stuff, H wide, 
are put across above and below the glass ; 
they reach below, and are nailed into the 
bottom-board to give it strength. The case 
is completed by nailing strips of the same 
kind on the ends of the end-boards, and it is 
then ready to slide in the glass. To have 
them look neat, they should be well painted 
before the glass is put in. Ours were so 
much admired before painting, that we an- 
ticipated an additional surprise when 
they were all painted a pure white, but we 
were somewhat astonished to find that the 
honey looked several shades darker by the 
strong contrast. Will some of our feminine 
friends who have a taste for appropriate col- 
ors, tell us what shade to paint our honey- 
cases ? White is objectionable, aside from 
the reason mentioned, because it soils too 
easily. 



COMB HONEY 



112 



The two sheets of glass can be purchased 
anywhere for about 12 cents, and we have 
all the advantage of glassed boxes, with less 
than i of the expense, for nothing can be 
handier for a retailer, than to set this case 
on the counter and simply raise the cover 
and hand out the neat little 1 lb. sections to 
his customer. The case itself, filled, is 
about the best advertisement one can pos- 
sibly have, and the contents are always free 
from dust, and secure from Hies. No glass 
is needed on the sections, for they are so 
small and thick through, that they can be 
s ifely wrapped up in a piece of paper. 



COMB HONEY. 

sure to sell readily in almost any town, and 
nothing further remains for us to do but 
study how we can get it in this shape cheap- 
est. 

KEEP YOUR HONEY CLEAN, AND FREE 
FROM STICKINESS. 

Do not take a single section from the hive 
until every cell is sealed, and the honey 
clean and dry. 19 Eacli one should be as clean 
and perfect as a newly laid egg, and there is 
no trouble about having them so, if you do 
not yield to the "temptation to take any that 
are almost finished. Just as surely as you 
send cases to market with the honey drip- 




CASE FOR STOKING AND SHIPPING HONEY. 



After we had finished the first case.it was 
sent as a sample, with the. remark that Ave 
thought the honey should retail for 2-5 cts. 
per lb. ; this is their reply : 

The ease of honey was received to-day, and was un- 
exceptionally in the best shape of any honey we ever 
saw tor retailing-. We had no trouble to get the 
price, 25 cents at wholesale, closing out the entire 45 
lbs. net. We will say, you may send us all you have 
of such honey in same shape. We will either buy it 
or sell for you as in times past. 

It will not be well to crowd it on account of the 
outside cases or else we would say, send all you have 
at once. If you have a ton or two it will not matter, 
only we would say, send about 500 lbs. at a time, 
which could be sent by freight, if it could be trans- 
ferred at Grafton with care. Stair & Kendel. 

Cleveland, Ohio, July 7, 1877. 

Honey put up in this shape will be pretty 



ping and daubing every thing it touches, 
just so surely will you have to take up with 
an inferior price for your crop ; do not rest 
satisfied until you can show as nice goods in 
your line as any other person in the busi- 
ness. You will get along just as fast, by 
keeping every thing neat and tidy. If you 
should be so awkward as to get some of the 
comb broken and the honey running, just 
place all the leaky sections in a hive for a 
half-hour, and the bees will empty all bro- 
ken cells, and clean up better and with more 
economy than you could ever do it. 

Lest this notice should induce a great 
many to write to Messrs. Stair & Kendel to 
sell their honey, I would remark that it will 
probably be of no use, unless you have some- 



COMB HONEY. 



(53 



COMB HONEY. 



thing in small sections of about one pound 
each, and put up as neatly and nicely as I 
have described. Nice comb honey in boxes 
is quite plentiful at 15 cents, in many places. 

In order to test the shipping qualities of 
our cases, as well as the markets in our dif- 
ferent cities, we sent a case, such as we 
have figured, to Cincinnati, one to Chi- 
cago, and one to New York city. They 
had no protection at all, but all went safely ; 
and I know of no reason why a glass case of 
honey should not have as careful treatment 
as a basket of peaches, or a crate of straw- 
berries, for that matter. All praised the case 
and honey, some of them extravagantly, and 
most of them wanted more. It is so clean 
and convenient for retailing that a brisk de- 
mand has sprung up at home, and it looks 
now as though we might sell a ton or more 
right in the apiary, without stirring a " peg " 
to hunt up a customer. My friends, we can 
sell our honey, our queens, aye, and our bees 
too, all in this very way, if we will keep ful- 
ly up to the light we now have. Throw 
away patents, adopt one uniform hive, hon- 
ey-package, etc., and let those who choose 
to follow the old jumbled-up way of doing 
things hunt for customers, and sell at half 
price even then. 

A similar case, but holding only a single 
tier of sections, is shown under Hive-Mak- 
ing. This is made to go into the hive and 
therefore answers the double purpose of a 
case for holding the sections in the hive, and 
also a case in which to send them to market. 

PASTEBOARD BOXES FOR ONE -POUND SEC- 
TIONS OF COMB HONEY. 

This package has a bit 
of " red tape " attached 
to it, to carry it by. It is 
a safe and pretty package 
for a single section of 
honey, being very conve- 
nient for the en stonier to 
carry, or pack in his va- 
box for carrying Use or trunk, if he wants 

HONEY. t() It ig cl()sed by a tuck 

_^,Hap, and can be quickly opened. Finely 
colored lithographic labels may be used on 
one or both sides. Their cost in the flat, 
without labels, is about $12.00 per 1000, and 
very pretty labels can be had for about $3.50 




tion to those who have honey to dispose of, 
we submit the following, which was pub- 
lished in Gleanings for January, 1881: 

Friend Root: — So many of your correspondents 
are giving- their plans for selling- their surplus hon- 
ey, through the columns of Gleanings, I will give 
you mine, and the way I created a market at and 
near home. 

In former years I had trouble to sell my surplus 
honey at a live and let-live price at Brookville, the 
county-seat, on account of the farmers selling- their 
dark strained honey at 5 or 6 cts. per lb., and comb 
in broken pieces smeared all over with honey, from 
6 to 8 cents. I could not afford to sell mine at those 
pi-ices, and therefore had to ship it to large cities, 
and I lost considerable by its being- smashed while 
in transit. 

I had often noticed, that if goods were placed in a 
show-window, or fine show-case, they would sell 
faster than when laid on the shelves; and the 
thought came to my mind, that if the pretty white 
sections filled with snow-white capped honey were 
put in a show-case, and set on the counter in a con- 
spicuous place in a leading grocery, they would 
draw the attention of the customers, as well as oth- 
er goods. 

I at once ordered one made, 1V% ft. high, by 16 in. 
square at base and top, three sides glassed, and the 
fourth side a panel door painted a sky blue; on the 
pane opposite the door I had the inscription in gilt 
letters, shaded brown, as in the cut. 



per 10(0. 



MAKING HONEY SELL. 




ae of the leading grc- 
his counter, allowing 
■nt on all he sold. I 
d sections, arranging 
them in the shape of a cone, the two-pound sections 
j at the bottom. On the top of the case I put twelve 
tion Of this point, and also as a good SUggeS- two-pound jars of extracted honey, arranged in a 



In getting a good price for our honey, ; cers t0 nave ' 
very much depends upon the way in which him a commas 

., f . „ * , - £., ., , , /. filled it with or 

it is cared for and exhibited at the grocer- 
ies and commission stores. As an illustra- 



COMB HONEY. 



ill 



( !OMB HONEY. 



square, and above them eight one-pound jars, with 
a pane of glass between them, and one jar on top of 
that, with a few one-half pound tumblers on each 
corner. All the jars were labeled, and capped with 
tinfoil caps, a la Muth. This pyramid of jars was 
covered with fine white mosquito-netting, to keep 
the flies from soiling the labels and jars. 

I tell you it looked pretty, and made me feel hap- 
py when I heard the grocer exclaim, " Well, well! if 
thai won't sell, Mr. S., I'll give up the grocery busi- 
ness." Do I hear you ask if it did? Well, I should 
think so. In six weeks all my comb honey, 350 lbs., 
was gone, and he wrote me for more. Yo\i see, if 
we put our honey up in an attractive manner it will 
sell, and that at a good price too. I sold my comb 
nt 20. and extracted at 15 cents per pound. The 
honey placed in and on the show-case was not han- 
dled. Cor I furnished him enough in the shipping- 
case. J. W. Sturwold. 

Haymond, Ind., Dec. 1883. 

KEEPING COMB HONEY. 

It is sometimes desirable to keep comb 
honey for a better market, or that we may 
have a supply the year round, etc. Well, to 
keep it with unimpaired flavor it must not 
be subjected to dampness. If water con- 



denses on the surface of the comb, it soon 
dilutes the honey, and then it sours, etc. On 
this account the honey should never be put 
into a cellar or other damp room. Better 
put it upstairs; and that there may be a free 
circulation of air, without admitting bees 
or flies, the windows should be covered 
with painted wire cloth. We are accustom- 
ed to keeping comb honey the year round, 
and rarely have it deteriorate in the least. 
The same remarks will, in the main, apply 
to keeping extracted honey. During damp 
and rainy weather, the doors and windows 
to the honey-room or honey-house should be 
closed, and opened again when the air is 
dry. 

If I am correct, comb honey should also 
be stored where it is not likely to freeze, as 
freezing contracts the wax so as to break the 
combs and let the honey run. Under the 
head of Hone y-Ho uses will be found some 
further remarks bearing closely on this sub- 
ject. 




J. ARCHER'S BEE RANCHE, SANTA BARBARA, CALIFORNIA. 



DANDELION (Taraxacum). This 
plant, I am inclined to think, is of more im- 
portance than is generally supposed, for it 
comes into bloom just after fruit - blossoms; 
and as it yields both pollen and honey, it 
keeps up brood-rearing, when it is of the ut- 
most importance it should be kept going. 20 I 
do not know that it would pay to raise a field 
of Dandelions expressly for the bees : but as 
they grow to a great size and luxuriance 
when allowed to stand and blossom in the 
garden, I feel pretty sure that a cultivated 
plat of them would furnish a great amount 
of honey. What a pretty sight it would be 
on our honey-farm ! They do not ordinarily 
blossom until the second season, but per- 
haps, like catnip and clover, they would do 
so, if sowed early, and cultivated. As Dan- 
delions seem to be much on the increase in 
the fields and about the roadsides in our vi- 
cinity, I think we can safely conclude that 
the more bees there are kept, the more such 
plants we shall have ; for the bees, by fertil- 
izing each blossom , cause them to produce 
an unusual amount of good sound seed. I 
do not think of any other purpose for which 
the.Dandelions can be used, except as greens 
in the spring ; if we allowed stock to forage 
on our yellow flower-garden, I am afraid it 
would mar its beauty, if not its usefulness 
for honey. 

I really can not say much in praise of the 
Dandelion honey, for we extracted some that 
we called Dandelion on account of the taste, 
and we could not use it at all. It was so 
dark colored and strong, that we with diffi- 
culty gave it away. The honey may have 
been from the shell - bark hickory, however, 
as that comes in bloom at about the same time. 

DISEASES Of BEES. I am very 
glad indeed to be able to say, that bees are 
less liable to be affected with disease than 
perhaps any^other class of animated crea- 
tion. It is perhaps because the individual 



members of a colony are so constantly giv- 
ing way to other younger members, as they 
are hatched out and come on the stage of 
action. Nothing but a really contagious 
j disease could do very much harm, where 
vigorous and youthful members are being 
added to the family circle almost daily, and, 
for a great part of the year, by hundreds or 
; thousands. Therefore, if your bees lack 
\ thrift, all you have to do is to start brood- 
rearing briskly ; and if the queen is in any 
I way at fault, you can simply remove her and 
\ substitute another, without even so much 
as disturbing the regular daily routine. 

So long as this is the case, we have little 
to fear from any disease that does not attack 
or interfere with the brood or young hatch- 
ing bees. Luckily we have but one such 
\ disease. This is termed Foul Brood, and 
| the subject will be found fully discussed un- 
I der that head. The disease next in impor- 
tance is Dysentery, and many seriously 
j doubt whether this should be called a di£- 
| ease at all, unless, forsooth, we should say 
: a boy had some disease when he ate green 
j apples, or went about with his feet wet on 
a bitter cold day. The difficulty seems nearly 
; allied to what, for want of some better name, 
has for the past few years been termed 

SPRING DWINDLING. 

i In olden times, and up to within the past 
; ten years, bees seldom died with honey in 
, their hives ; and when it was announced 

that good colonies of bees were gone, leaving 
i their combs filled with honey, many were 

incredulous. Very soon, however, some 

of our best bee-keepers began to lose in the 
| same way, and, ere long, whole apiaries of 

hundreds of colonies were swept off in a 
I few weeks, during the months of February. 
I March, and April. If I am not mistaken, as 
: soon as the bees began to get new honey 
! from fruit - blossoms or other sources, they 

began to build up, and then every thing 



DISEASES OF BEES. 



(is 



DISEASES OF BEES. 



went along as usual. The blame was first 
thrown on the extractor, because some bees 
died in hives from which the honey had been 
extracted, and others in the same apiary 
that had their combs left undisturbed, came 
through healthy as usual. This undoubted- 
ly made a difference, for the honey gathered 
in the fore part of the season is often more 
wholesome than that gathered late in the 
fall ; but it was by no means all the trouble, 
for apiaries having only box hives were in 
many instances devasted entirely. Expos- 
ure to the weather was suggested as the 
cause, and fine wintering-houses and cellars 
were constructed, and for a while everything 
seemed prosperous ; but very soon they died 
in these repositories also, the bees coming 
out on the fioors in the dead of winter, be- 
smearing their hives, and deporting them- 
selves in almost any but a satisfactory way. 
Some succeeded so well with bee-houses and 
cellars, that they have all along adhered to 
them ; but so have others with outdoor 
wintering; and in many localities, bees have 
wintered under almost all circumstances, 
if only supplied with plenty of food. 

In a great majority of cases, it has seemed 
pretty conclusive that the trouble was 
caused by bad food ; the Italians may have 
been somewhat to blame for this; for during 
unfavorable seasons, they stored up large 
amounts of honey from the aphides or honey- 
dew, or from other sources that bees are not 
usually wont to frequent. The use of the 
extractor lias many times, without doubt, 
aggravated the trouble, as we have mention- 
ed, where all the combs in the hive have 
been repeatedly emptied; for in such a case, 
the bees are driven entirely to the late-gath- 
ered and oftentimes unsealed stores, for 
their winter supplies. To remedy this mat- 
ter, it was suggested that their honey be all 
extracted, and that they be wintered entire- 
ly on stores of a good quality of sugar syrup. 
This course proved successful, in the great 
majority of cases ; but by the time we got 
well into it, the dwindling mania had par- 
tially gone by, and those that were left with 
their own stores wintered all right also, so 
that very little was proven. Besides, it was 
a great deal of trouble to do this feeding at 
a time when the bees were much disposed 
to rob, and so it, like all the other remedies, 
was gradually dropped. This was especially 
the case when extracted honey became so 
cheap that it was no object to extract and sell 
it. Again, this bad fall honey that killed 
the bees one spring almost as surely as fly- 
poison kills flies, if kept over until the next, 



I could be fed to them with perfect impunity. 

j This may not have been always the case, but 
it was in some quite well - authenticated in- 
stances. "Of course, then, itwas a disease," 

I said many, "and it is a disease that is catch- 

j ing too," said others; "for after it got among 

| my bees, they ' jest all went.' " ' 

Well, my friends, I really do not know 
whether it was a disease or not, and 
I do not know that it matters very much. 
We learned pretty thoroughly that, what- 
ever it was, it usually came in the spring, 
just about the time the bees began to rear 
brood considerably, and that the old bees 
were generally gone, just after a spell of 
bad spring weather. Also that the very "bad- 

j dest" honey, if I may be allowed the expres- 
sion, did no harm at all, if fed in very warm 
weather. One more fact, and I am done. 
Colonies that were queenless, or that were 

| by any means entirely prevented from raising 

brood, seldom, if ever, caught the the 

" dwindling." I declare, there is one more 
fact after all, that I had almost forgotten. 
It is, that very strong colonies with tough 
old brood - combs almost invariably pull 
through, especially if they have a good live- 
lyvnueen. Such colonies will stand like the 
sturdy oak, year after year, while the new 
stocksjthat are so rapidly built up vanish, 
like the smoke, from their new combs and 
small clusters of brood. 

In view of the above facts, and after try- 
ing almost every thing else, I began, at the 

i suggestion of friend Townley, of Tompkins, 
Mich., to experiment by making the bees fill 

1 their brood-chamber, and surrounding them 
with chaff, brought up close to the bees. 

My first experiment was made on a pretty 
strong colony. The chaff packing was about 
4 inches thick, on all sides. These bees did 
not commence brood-rearing as soon as the 
others: but about the time natural pollen ap- 
peared, they commenced to gather it brisk- 
ly; and when fruit-trees bloomed, they began 
to send a stream of hot air out at the en- 
trance that would melt the frost in front of 
the hives after a cold night, for several 
inches. Do you suppose sudden changes of 
weather affected them V or that they caught 
the " dwindling"? Of course, they did not; 
and what is still more cheering, I have had 
no case of dwindling in a strong colony tlms 
prepared, although I have practiced the plan 
for the past three winters. Of course, some- 
thing may happen yet, to upset all the chaff 
experiments, as has repeatedly been the case 
with other things, but I feel pretty sure that 
a good chaff packing close to the cluster of 



DISEASES OF BEES. 



DIVISION-BOARDS. 



bees will do away with all the troubles we 
have experienced with cold and backward 
springs. With the chaff cushions and chaff 
division-boards, you can very easily make 
the experiment on any colony that has be- 
gun to dwindle down just about the time 
they commence to rear brood. When I first 
stocked our house-apiary, I was much taken 
up with the idea of having the hives simply 
covered with a single thickness of cloth, that 
we might more easily open and work with 
them. As the house was to be kept free 
from frost, I thought there would be no 
necessity of any other covering, even in 
winter ; but I had the worst form of spring 
dwindling I ever knew, and lost every col- 
ony except a few that were in old tough 
thick combs. The next winter I prepared 
them just the same, but placed heavy cush- 
ions of chaff at the sides and above the bees. 
They all wintered without a particle of 
dwindling, and by pushing one's hand under 
the cushion, directly over the bees, it was 
found to be as warm as if you were touching 
a living animal. Now, all this heat, the win- 
ter before, had been passing off into the air, 
almost as fast as the bees generated it. Do 
you wonder their little bodies were exhaust- 
ed in the attempt to rear brood and keep 
warm, and that they " got sick "V See Win- 
tering. 21 

other diseases. 

I believe I do not know any other, unless 
it be one that I can give no name for. It af- 
flicts the bees in warm as well as cold weath- 
er, and the inmates of heavy hives as well 
as weak ones. The symptoms are a sort of 
quivering and twitching motion, and final- 
ly the bee becomes so much emaciated 
that he looks like a shiny black skeleton of 
what a bee should be. I have seen bees 
thus affected, in perhaps a dozen or more 
colonies, but it all disappeared after a time, 
except in one colony. That one I broke up 
after it had become pretty well reduced, 
by destroying the queen, and giving the bees 
to other colonies. A neighbor has also 
lost a colony from the same trouble. I have 
noticed it more or less for the last four or 
five years, but have seen it only in the two 
apiaries mentioned.* 

It may be well to mention, that when a bee 
is crippled or diseased from any cause, he 
crawls away from the cluster, out of the 
hive, and rids community of his presence 
as speedily as possible ; if bees could reason, 
we would call this a lesson of heroic self- 

*Since the above was written we have had reports 
of something quite similar, from several different 
localities, - "" -..-.--. 



sacrifice for the good of community. If 
your bees should get sick from some other 
cause than I have mentioned, I would advise 
putting enough together to make a good lot, 
surrounding them with chaff cushions close 
up to the cluster, and giving them plenty of 
sealed honey also close to the cluster. If 
you have not the honey, and the weather is 
cool or cold, use candy. If the cluster is 
small, give them a small piece at a time, 
right over the cluster, under the cushions. 

Weak colonies sometimes get a mania in 
the spring for destroying their queens ; this 
can hardly be termed a disease, and yet the 
colony has become to a certain extent de- 
moralized, and out of its normal condition, 
much as when they swarm out, as given in 
Absconding Swarms ; they will generally 
come out all right if fed carefully and judi- 
ciously, as we have described. Bees are al- 
ways prospering when they are accumulat- 
ing stores, and they are very apt to get 
astray, in some way or other, when they are 
very long without some way of making dai- 
ly additions to their "stock in trade," unless 
it is during the winter, when they, are as a 
general thing, mostly at rest. Almost all 
sorts of irregular vagaries may be stopped 
by regular daily feeding, and I would advise 
the candy, for it furnishes both honey and 
pollen, if made with the addition of flour as 
we have advised. 

DIVIDING-. This term is usually ap- 
plied to the operation of increasing the 
number of stocks, by putting half the bees 
and combs into a new hive, just about 
swarming time ; it is really one method 
of artificial swarming. If you have an ex- 
tra laying queen to give the queenless por- 
tion, it may do very well ; but otherwise, it 
is a wasteful way of making increase, and 
has mostly been abandoned. If the bees are 
just ready to swarm, and have queen-cells 
pretty well along, it may answer very well ; 
but even then, it would pay better to take 
but two combs with the queen-cell, and get 
a laying queen before making the actual 
division, as advised in Artificial Sw arm- 
ing. 

DIVISION" EOAED3. Make a frame 
of lath, precisely of the outside dimensions 
of the frame you use in your hive. As ordi- 
nary lath is H wide, you will have a frame 
quite similar in appearance to the wide 
trainee that hold the sections, except their 
being roughly made. When this is done, you 
are to tack stout cloth all round the sides 
and bottom as shown in th§ engraving; and 
as you t#6fc it on, it is to be filled with chaff, 

5 



DIVISION-BOARDS. 



7(1 



DRONES. 



so as to make a sort of soft cushion. You 
Ii id better use duck for this purpose, as our 
division - board may be required to stand 
some severe pulling, to tear it loose from 
the propolis, when it is to be removed. You 
will need to pucker or gather the cloth slight- 
ly at the corners, that they may not draw in 
when the board is finished. When this is 
done, nail securely on each side a thin board 
about 3-16 in thickness, filling in between 
the two with chaff. Now our board is finish- 
ed when we have fastened a small roll of 
duck to each end of the top-bar, to close the 
groove in the metal rabbet. To get this roll 
on securely and in neat shape, it is put on 
the top-bar before it is nailed to the rest of 
the frame. The tacks that hold the outside 
end of this strip of cloth are driven into the 
end of the top-bar, and the cloth is then 
rolled over the heads so as to entirely con- 
ceal theni ; the other end is nailed between 
the top-bar and the end-bar as. in fact, is the 
end of the lon^ strip <>f cloth also. 




CHAFF-CUSHION DIVISION-BOARD. 

This division-board, if made of the proper 
dimensions, should tit nicely and easily, in 
any hive. It will stand securely where 
placed, fits air-tight, even if the hives should 
vary a trifle in size inside, and yet can be al- 
ways taken out easily, because the chaff 
cushions are yielding. When used to con- 
tract the space of a small swarm or nucleus, 
it can be easily pushed up until the bees fill 
their apartment, and it leaves a warm 
smooth flat side toward the bees. I prefer 
the board side to cloth, because if combs are 
built beside it, they are always smooth and 
flat, and the bees can never bite through the 
board, as they will in time through even 
duck, when used for a division - board. If 
you wish to use them for dividing two colo- 
nies in the same hive, the division is perfect, 
and no bee ever gets round or over them, to 
kill a queen in the other apartment. But 
the principal use of these boards is to fix an 
ordinary hive for wintering. To accomplish 
this purpose we put one against each outside 
wall of the hive ; if the colony is not a full 



j one, push them toward each other until it is 
; a full one on a smaller scale; put your chaff 
: cushion on top, and they are in a very good 
winter nest. 

If you wisli to feed a nucleus so as to build 
comb and raise brood in cool fall weather, you 
i can do it nicely, using these division-boards. 
Place one on each side of the bees up to one 
i side of the hive, and feed liquid food in the 
empty part, by means of the wooden feeder. 
Have the apartment for the bees contracted 
so that some will be crowded out around the 
entrance, and fold a sheet of duck so as to 
j perfectly close the space above the frames. 
Get them to wax it all tight with propolis if 
j they will. They will soon find the way to 
and from the feeder, by passing round the 
lower corner of the division-board at the en- 
trance of the hive and; as the warm air can 
in no way escape, they are, to all intents, 
getting their honey from outside. With 
such an arrangement in Simplicity hives, I 
have been building colonies up beautifully 
during the present month of Oct. (1877), and 
by feeding nothing but a syrup made of 
"rape sugar. Where the space was contract- 
I ed so as to "squeeze'' the bees out at the en- 
: trance, except when very cool, I have suc- 
ceeded equally well with but space for 
three frames. 

DRONES. These are large noisy bees 
that do a great amount of buzzing, but never 
sting anybody, for the very good reason that 
they have no sting. The bee-keeper who 
has learned to recognize them both by sight 
and sound, never pays any attention to their 
noise, but visitors are many times sadly 
frightened by their loud buzzing. We will 
commence as we did with the worker-bees, 
at the egg, and see how much we can learn 
of these harmless and inoffensive inmates of 
the bee-hive. 

If our colonies are prosperous, we may 
find eggs in the drone-comb of some of the 
best hives as early as March, but not, as a 
general thing, until April. You can tell 
the drone-cells from the worker at a glance 
(even if you have never seen them) by the 
size, as you will see by looking at Honey- 
Comb. Whenever you see eggs in the large 
cells, you may be sure they are drone-eggs. 
I do not mean by this that the eggs that 
produce drones look any different from any 
other eggs that the queen lays, for in looks 
they are precisely the same. They are al- 
most the same in every respect, for the only 
difference is that the egg that produces the 
worker-bee has been impregnated, while 
the others have not; but more of this, anon. 



DROKES. 



DRONES. 



The egg, like those producing workers, re- 
mains brooded over by the bees until it is 
about 3 days old, and then by one of nature's 
wonderful transformations the egg is gone, 
and a tiny worm appears, a mere speck in the 
bottom of the cell. This worm is fed as be- 
fore, until it is about a week old, and is then 
sealed over like a worker, except that the 
caps to the cells are raised considerably 
more ; in fact, they very much resemble a 
lot of bullets laid closely together on a board. 
They will begin to cut the caps of these cells 
in about 21 or 25 days ; the caps come off in 
a round piece, very much like those from a 
queen cell. 




DRONE-BEE. 

The body of a drone is hardly as long as 
that of a queen, but he is so much thicker 
through than either queen or worker, that 
you will never mistake him for either. He 
has no baskets on his legs in which to carry 
pollen, and his tongue is so unsuited to the 
gathering of honey from liowers, that he 
would starve to death in the midst of a clo- 
ver field. 

I presume the young drones are ready to 
leave their hive after they are about two 
weeks old, and they do this shortly after 
noon, of a warm pleasant day. They come 
out with the young bees as they play, and 
first try their wings, but their motions are 
far from being graceful and easy, and 
they frequently tumble about so awkwardly 
that, as they strike against your face, you 
might almost think them either drunk or 
crazy. I do not know how we can very well 
decide how old a drone must be to fulfill 



the sole purpose of his existence,' the fertil- 
ization of the queen, but should guess any- 
where from three weeks to as many months. 22 
Perhaps they seldom live so long as the last 
period named, but I think they sometimes 
do. Many facts seem to indicate that they, 
j as well as the queen, fly long distances from 
} the hive— perhaps two miles or more. We 
have now satisfactory evidence that the 
! meeting between queens and drones takes 
place not very high up from the ground. 
Several observers, during the past season 
(I87&0, have reported having seen this meet- 
ing not very far from the hives, during the 
| swarming season. The queens and drones 
I both sally forth during the middle of the 
, day, or afternoon, and in from fifteen min- 
! utes to an hour, or possibly a couple of 
j hours, the queen returns with an appendage 
; attached to the extremity of her body, that 
j microscopic examination shows to be the 
j generative organs of the drone. These facts 
I have been observed by hundreds of bee- 
keepers, and are well authenticated. In at- 
tempts to have queens fertilized in wire- 
cloth houses, I have, after letting the queens 
out, seen the drones pursue them until both 
parties vanished from my sight. Still anoth- 
er fact : If you take a drone in your hand 
some warm afternoon just as he has sallied 
from the hive, and press him in a certain 
way, he will burst open something like the 
popping of a grain of corn, extruding the 
very same organ we find attached to the 
j queen, and dying instantly. It is generally 
conceded that he dies in the act of fertiliza- 
I tion. The fertilization of queen bumble- 
bees has frequently been witnessed; but al- 
though it is quite probable, it by no meaus 
follows that the queens and drones of hon- 
ey-bees meet in the same way. Several ac- 
counts have been given; but as the drone 
and queen are only seen whirling about each 
other on the wing, there is much about it 
that still remains in obscurity. See Queens. 

In the fall of 1876 I saw a swarm of black 

ants sporting in the sunshine. A close look 

showed them to be both males and females; 

j and as pair after pair fell to the ground, I 

| had ample, opportunity of noting all circum- 

| stances. In this case the drones at first 

i seemed paralyzed; but after the queens flew 

| away, they revived and afterward flew away 

! also. One point here particularly impressed 

j me : The ants of both sexes were in such 

I countless thousands, that they must have 

come from all the ant-hills for, I should say, 

miles around; the result was, as you see, 

that there was hardly a possibility of insects 



DRONES. 

from the same family meeting. Now, is 
there any other way in which the strain of 
hlood could be so effectually crossed with 
that of some distant colony, as by this huge ; 
jubilee of both sexes V 

Queen-ants, like queen - bees, seldom if 
ever come out of their homes at any other | 
time, and, as if by some preconcerted ar- ! 
rangement, they meet and mix up apparent- 
ly for the very purpose of effectually pre- j 
venting "in-and-in breeding," as it is usual- 
ly termed when applied to stock. Do queens 
and drone-bees meet in the same way, in j 
vast numbers ? Many circumstances seem 
to indicate they do, yet it, like many other 
things, lacks positive proof. Drones have 
been seen in out-of-the-way places, in larger 
numbers than we would think could possibly 
come from one hive ; and many have heard 
their loud humming who have not seen | 
them. The fact that a queen should become 
fertilized in so short a time after leaving the 
hive, seems strange, unless it really is a fact 
that she is called to the swarm of drones 
by their loud humming (which she would 
instinctively recognize from a long dis- ' 
tance), flies among them, falls to the ground 
and tears herself loose from her dead 
mate by her strong limbs, and then returns 
to her hive, having been absent only a few j 
minutes. I have ventured to theorize thus j 
much, hoping that our friends will aid in 
corroborating or controverting, as the case 
may be, the deductions as given above. 

One of the most wonderful things about 
the drone, or male bee, is that it is hatched 
from an egg that is unimpregnated. So 
wonderful indeed is this, that the matter 
has been for ages disputed, and is even now, 
by many who have not looked into the mat- I 
ter and examined the evidence. AVhat we 
mean by unimpregnated, is that queens that 
have never met the male bee at all will lay 
eggs, and these eggs will hatch, but they al- 
ways produce drones, and never workers. 
Those who have had the care of poultry, are 
well aware that the hens will lay eggs right 
along, if no cock is kept in the yard at all ; 
and if I am not mistaken, a pullet would : 
commence and lay perhaps nearly her usual j 
number of eggs, if she had never seen a ' 
male bird. Now, nearly the same is true 
with regard to the queen-bee. If she fails i 
to meet a drone during the first 30 days of 
her life, she usually begins to lay eggs, but 
she seldom lays as many, or with the same 
regularity, as a fertile queen. The eggs the 
hen lays, if she is allowed to sit, never pro- | 
rluce any chick?} at a]], The eggs laid by the ! 



> DRONES. 

<|iieen, under the same circumstances, as. I 
have said before, always produce drones. 
There is one more fact connected with the 
common fowl : If the male bird is put into 
the yard with the hen for one day only, good 
fertile eggs will be laid for many days, pos- 
sibly a whole laying. If a black-Spanish 
cock should get among a flock of white hens 
for only a single day, all the eggs laid for 
many days afterward will produce chicks 
with more or less black feathers on them. I 
give these statements from actual facts. 
The point I wish you to observe, is that the 
eggs of even the common fowl are fertil- 
ized as they are laid by the hen, or possi- 
bly a few days before. With the fowls, one 
meeting with the male bird suffices for the 
fertilization of an egg daily, for a week, or 
more ; with the queen-bee, for her whole life 
of three or even four years. 

I do not know whether the hen has the 
power of laying fertile or unfertile eggs at 
will, or not; perhaps not; but I do know that 
a queen-bee lays both fertilized and unfer- 
tilized eggs, alternating from one kind to 
the other in rapid succession. Skillful 
microscopists have carefully dissected eggs 
from worker cells, and found the living 
spermatozoa in numbers from one to five. 
These living spermatozoa were precisely 
identical with those found in dissecting a 
mature drone. Again: every egg a queen 
lays, passes a little sack containing a minute 
quantity of some fluid; the microscope 
shows that this fluid contains thousands of 
these spermatozoa. Is it not wonderful that 
these spermatozoa should live four years or 
more in this little sack, awaiting their turn 
to be developed into a higher life whenever 
they should be required to fertilize the egg 
that is to produce the worker-bee V Very 
well ; now the egg that is taken from a drone 
cell contains no trace of spermatozoa. 
Therefore it, like the egg of the common 
fowl, unimpregnated, should never hatch. 
But, my friends, it does hatch, and produce 
the drone. The first glimpse we get of the 
little bit of animated nature, is the tiny 
speck alive at the bottom of the cell. Does 
he grow out of nothing, without parentage, 
at least on the paternal side ? If his mother 
was an Italian, he is also Italian ; if a black 
queen, he is also black. We shall have to 
conclude, perhaps, that he is the son of his 
mother, and nothing more. The egg that 
has never been impregnated in the usual 
way, must, after all, have some living germ 
incorporated in its make-up, and this germ 
must come only from the mother, The great 



1) RONES. 



7:; 



DRONES. 



skill and proficiency with tfie microscope, 
required to make these minute examina- 
tions is such that but one or two have ever 
succeeded in exploring as far as I have men- 
tioned, and it is somewhat like our investi- 
gations in the polar regions. Who among 
us will educate himself for the work and 
carry it along? 

Drones are also hatched from eggs laid by 
worker-bees. These drones are smaller in 
size than those from a queen, and the 
question as to whether they are capable 
of fertilizing queens, so as to be of some 
value, like other drones, is one that I believe 
has never been decided. Some facts have 
been brought to light that seem to be pretty 
good evidence on both sides of the question; 
but, so far as I know, nothing very definite. 
I confess, that I would not want to make 
use of them, even if they were good, for I 
want the strongest, healthiest, and largest 
drones I can get. Eor a further account of 
the mothers of these queer drones, see Fer- 
tile Workers. 

After what I have said, you will perhaps 
see how clear it is, that the drones are in no 
way affected by the fertilization of the 
queen ;■ or, in other words, that all daughters 
of a purely fertilized Italian queen, produce 
drones absolutely pure, whether they have 
been fertilized by a black drone or not. 

Until quite recently, we have had no easy 
way of repressing the production of drones 
in far greater numbers than could ever be 
desirable. Since the introduction of the 
fdn., however, it is quite an easy matter to 
make almost every cell in the hive a worker- 
cell. On the other hand, if we choose, we can 
have a hive filled entirely with drone-comb, 
and a good queen could, I think, be induced 
to raise nearly, if not quite, a full peck of 
drones at one time. By this means we can 
have our drones raised from such stock as 
we choose, and we can save the vast amount 
of honey that has so long been wasted by 
rearing and feeding drones that we do not 
need. While extracting, I have found as 
many as several pounds of drone-larva? in a 
single hive ; and, to save the honey they 
would consume as soon as hatched, we used 
to shave their heads off with a very sharp 
knife. This is certainly rather expensive 
business, for it must take more than a pound 
of honey, to say nothing of the value of the 
pollen, to get up a pound of sealed brood. If 
all this labor and material had been utilized 
in the production of worker-brood, it would 
doubtless have been equivalent to a swarm 
of bees. All worker-comb would have in- 
sured this without trouble. 



It is quite probable, that all the drones 
will be raised that can usually be required, 
without making any special provision for 
them ; but still, it may be a good idea to 
devote one hive, in an apiary of 50 or a hun- 
dred colonies, to the production of choice 
drones. 

RESTRAINING UNDESIRABLE DRONES. 

Drones undesirable for breeding purposes 
may be prevented from going out to meet the 
queens, by keeping them from going out of 
the hive, or by letting them go out into a 
cage through which workers can pass and 
they can not. This is done by taking advan- 
tage of the fact, that a worker-bee will pass 
readily through slots in perforated metal 5-32 
of an inch in width, while a drone can not. 
In the figure below we give the form of the 
perforated metal. 




PERFORATED ZINC FOR EXCLUDING DRONE-. 

Zinc is the material generally used, because 
it is cheap, and will not rust. If we put a 
strip of this material over the entrance, the 
worker-bees can go out, but the drones can 
not ; but as a simple strip of zinc is liable to 
get clogged if there are many drones in the 
hive, an arrangement like the figure below is 
ordinarily used. 




THE JONES ENTRANCE-GUARD. 

This we call the Jones entrance-guard, be- 
cause, if I am correct, hVwas devised or sug- 
gested by him. Although he manufactures 
perforated zinc for this purpose, the material 
was by no means originated by himself, for 
frequent mention of its use is made in the 
British Bee-Journal as early as 1S75. 

When it is desirable to get the drones all 
out of a hive without permitting any to get 
back again, we put a guard over the entrance 
and then shake all the bees in front of the 
hive. The workers will, of course, crawl 
back on the empty combs; but the drones 
will have to stay out, and the queen too, un- 
less she should happen to be very small and 
slender. 



DRONES. 



74 



DRONES. 



In the morning, when stiffened with cold, 
they may he destroyed, or fed to the chick- 
ens. Another way of accomplishing the 
same result is to fasten on a drone-guard 
having on the outside of it a cone made of 
wire cloth, as shown below. The drones go 
out at the mouth of the cone, hut can not get 
back. 




ALLEY S DRONE - EXCLUDER. 

If it is desirable to get the drones into a 
box, so they may be carried to some other 
apiary, for instance, a cage is made with an 
upper story, and a couple of these wire cones 
conduct the drones " up stairs." If any 
worker-bees should go up too, they can read- 
ily go down through the perforated zinc. 
This latter arrangement is shown in the cut 
below. 




alley's drone - excluder, drone and 
queen trap combined. 

The exact form of the arrangements de- 
scribed in the last figures was suggested by 
II. Alley, of Wenham, Mass., who has been 
for many years engaged in queen-rearing, 
and who publishes a book entitled The Bee- 
Keeper'' s Handy Hook. 

It is claimed for these devices, that they 
will also prevent swarming by keeping the 
queen from getting out of the hive. So many 
reports have been given, showing thai a good 
many queens will get through any place that 
will allow a worker to pass readily, I think 
that, at the present writing (May, 1884), the 
matter needs demonstrating by more actual 
experiments. The perforated zinc is also 
sold largely for making honey-boards, and 1 
believe they have been pretty thoroughly 
tested for this purpose. They seem to at 
least discourage the queen from going into 
the upper story, if they do not absolutely 
prevent her going. For both extracted and 
comb honey we can, by this means, be rea- 
sonably sure of not having any brood in the 
upper story, where we desire none. 



Within the past few months much atten- 
tion has been turned to the proper size for 
these perforations. The zinc imported from 
England, and manufactured by friend Jones, 
in Canada, has perforations a little more than 
5-32 in width. That figured on the previous 
page, having the perforations oval at the 
ends, instead of square, are a scant 5-32. 
AVhile either kind answers completely for 
excluding drones, the larger size answers 
only partially for restraining queens. Now, 
if we are to prevent swarming by means of 
the queen-trap shown on the opposite col- 
umn, we want the perforations just large 
enough to let workers through, but so they 
will not admit of even an unfertilized queen. 
The smaller size does this, so far as I have yet 
been informed, and offers but little hindrance 
to the passage of the worker-bees, unless 
they are unusually large. While I think of 
it, this perforated zinc is a pretty good gauge 
for determining the size of honey-bees, it be- 
ing a well-known fact that a colony from one 
queen may differ quite a little in size from 
that of another queen. 




ZINC IDNEY - BOARD. 

The honey-board that is now being used by 
many of our friends is represented in the cut 
above. 

This honey-board is intended to prevent 
the queen from depositing eggs in the upper 
story, where we wish honey stored, and noth- 
ing else ; and I believe either size of the zinc 
does this with but few exceptions. 

REARING DRONES OUT OF SEASON. 

This is quite a difficult matter to accom- 
plish, especially in the spring; and although 
we have many times fed colonies with this 
end in view, we have always found some 
other colony that would have drones flying 
just as soon, without any artificial aid. 
Drones may lie kept almost any length of 
time, by making the colonies containing 
them queenless, or by putting them into 
queenless colonies. During warm dry weath- 
er in the summer or fall, drones may be pro- 
cured by feeding, but the feeding must be 
regular, and given every day for several 
days or weeks. By feeding one colony a 
barrel of sugar in the fall, I succeeded in 
getting a nice lot of drones in October. Of 
course, their combs were taken away and 



DRONES. 

empty ones given them, to give the queen 
room. Before we can get drones, we must 
get worker-brood under good headway, and 
then, if we put a drone-comb right in the 
center of the brood-nest, the queen will, if 
all things are favorable, begin at once to fill 
it with eggs. The feeding must be kept up, 
however, for bees are very easily discour- 
aged; and if a stoppage occurs in the daily 
supplies, they will not hesitate to pull the 
young drones out of their cells and sacrifice 
them without mercy. 

DESTRUCTION OF DRONES IN THE FALL. 

This does not necessarily occur in the fall, 
but may take place at any time in the sum- 
mer; and I have several times known the 
drones killed off between apple- bloom and 
white clover, only because supplies ceased, 
causing the bees to become discouraged and 
give up swarming for the time being. I 
know of no way in which you can tell so 
well that the yield of honey has ceased, as 
by the behavior of the bees to their drones. 
When, in the midst of the honey season, you 
see a worker buzzing along on the back of a 
drone who seems to be "scratching gravel" 
to get away from the hive, you may take 
warning that the yield of honey is failing, 
and that you had better stop making artifi- 
cial swarms, and prepare for feeding, if it is 
your intention so to do. I do not know that 
I ever saw bees sting drones, but they some- 
times pretend to do so ; I rather think it is 
only a feint to drive them away. The poor 
drone, at such times, after vainly trying to 
go back into the hive, will sometimes take 
wing and soar away off in the air, only to 
return after a time to be repulsed again, un- 
til, through weakness perhaps, and want of 
food, he flutters hopelessly in the dust, and 
so submits to the fate that seems to be a 
part of the inexorable law of nature, and of 
his being. 

To preserve drones for late qneen-rearing, 
I have been in the habit of carrying all 
frames containing drone -brood, to some 
queenless hive, knowing they would be safe 
there as long as wanted, even if it were all 
winter. I believe drones have been, under 
such circumstances, wintered over ; but 
whether they are of any value in the spring 
or not, I am unable to say, I should fear 
they would not be by the time queens could 
be reared. We usually have drones in some 
of our colonies as soon as April, and that is 
as early as I should care to undertake to 
rear queens, in ordinary seasons. I have sev- 
eral seasons reared queens and had them 
successfully fertilized, even after all the 



75 



DRONES. 



drones had been gone some time, so far as I 
could discover; and as they proved to be 
purely fertilized, I have been not a little 
perplexed. Is there a possibility that, by 
some other strange exception to the rule, a 
queen may lay eggs that will produce 
workers as well as drones, without being 
fertilized V If such is the case, it will ac- 
count for the rare instances in which queens 
hatched with imperfect wings", lay eggs that 
produce worker - brood. We know that 
aphides and some other insects reproduce 
their species without any agency of the 
male, for several generations. It is of no 
use to say we do not believe it, for the evi- 
dence is indisputable. How wondrous are 
thy works, O Lord ! 

DRONES WITH BRIGHTLY COLORED HEADS 
OF DIFFERENT COLORS. 

This is a queer feature in natural history. 
Almost every summer some one writes or 
sends us specimens of drones with heads of 
different colors. The matter has been report- 
ed and commented on at different times in 
Gleanings. Not only do we occasionally 
•find drones with white heads, but we find 
them with heads of a cherry-red color ; again, 
of a bright green, and at other times yellow. 
I confess there is something very wonderful 
and mysterious to me in this matter. Why 
.queer old dame Nature should decide to sin- 
gle out the heads of drones to sport with in 
this way will, it seems to me, be a pretty dif- 
ficult matter to explain. Why should this 
•peculiarity show itself in the drones more 
than in the queens and workers ? Again, 
why should heads be the subject of these 
bright rainbow colors V Is there really any 
purpose or design in it? or is it just because it 
hap2iened so ? I presume there are very few 
among our readers but will say there is a 
purpose and a design in it ; and the next 
thing is to decide why it should be so. Here 
is a question for scientists. 

A singular fact in regard to this matter is, 
that we find many of these colored drones in 
one hive ; that is, where you find one red- 
headed drone in a hive, you will probably 
find more ; and a queen that produces them 
once will do so again. If I am not mistaken, 
I have seen hives where all the drones were 
colored in this strange way ; and their heads 
were all alike — of one color. 

DYSSNTEEY. When you see your 
bees covering the door-steps and entrances 
to their hives with a yellowish, disagreeable 
looking excrement, you may say they have 
the dysentery, or what is usually known as 
such. If the weather becomes very warm 



DYSENTERY 



DYSENTERY. 



and pleasant, they will usually get over it, 
after they have had a full flight. If, on the 
contrary, the symptoms show themselves 
before warm weather, and no opportunity is 
given them to fly, they may get so bad as to 
cover their combs with this substance, and 
finally die in a damp, filthy-looking mass. 

CAUSE OF DYSENTERY. 

I believe the most common cause is bad 
food, coupled with an open, cold hive, with 
a small, or insufficient cluster of bees. I can 
hardly think any food alone would produce 
the disease, because we rarely, if ever, find 
the bees suffering from any thing they will 
gather, in warm summer weather. Honey 
gathered from rotten fruit, if we may call it 
honey, is very productive of this complaint, 
and cider from cider-mills is almost sure to 
kill bees at the approach of cold weather. 
See Cider. I knew a lady who boiled up a 
mash of sweet apples and fed to the bees, be- 
cause they were short of stores, and she 
could not afford to buy sugar for them. 
They all died of dysentery, long before 
sining. Where dampness accumulates from 
their breath, and settles on the combs, dilut- 
ing the honey, it is very apt to cause these 
symptoms. Sorghum syrup has brought on 
a very aggravated form, and burnt candy or 
sugar is almost sure poison to bees, although 
it may be fed them with impunity in the 
middle of the summer. The burnt sugar, or 
caramel, attracts moisture from the air very 
rapidly in damp weather, and I am inclined 
to think it is this moisture that produces 
the disease. 

While it is very certain that no such symp- 
toms are found in warm weather, it is also 
certain that a strong colony in a hive with 
soft, warm, dry. porous walls, will stand an 
amount of bad food that a weak one, or one : 
exposed to drafts of cold air, will not. I 
have known bees having considerable stores 
of cider, to winter very well, if the colony 
were strong enough to keep the whole in- 
terior of the hive, dry and warm. A power- 
ful colony, if left with their hive uncovered j 
during a rain storm, will soon dry them- j 
selves ; and while they are doing this they 
remind one of a sturdy cart-horse, as he : 
shakes the water off his hide and dries him- 
self by his internal animal heat. While they 
have the health and numbers to repel mois- 
ture in this way, they are safe against al- 
most any thing. But to help them to keep 
this internal strength, they should have 
close and comfortable quarters, very much 
such as you would need, my friend, to enable 
you to pass a severe winter's night, in health 



and comfort. The hives often used are so 
large and barn-like, in respect to the win- 
ter's brood-nest, that comfort is almost out 
of the question, for it does little if any good 
to pile straw, corn-fodder, etc., over the out- 
sides of the hives, while the cluster within 
has no sort of protection at all. If they were 
in a hollow tree, the diameter of which was 
so small that they could fill it completely, 
they would be in a much better place, espe- 
cially if the sides were lined with soft dry 
rotten wood. I have seen icicles nearly as 
large as my arm, in box hives that were 
tight and large ; these had all formed from 
the condensation of the breath of the bees. 
Now, should they melt during a thaw, in 
such a way that this water would run down 
on the bees and their unsealed stores, it 
would be very apt to produce unhealthiness, 
to say nothing further. 

PREVENTION OF DYSENTERY. 

From what I have said, you will probably 
infer that I would make the swarm larger, 
or the hive smaller, during the winter sea- 
son. If we say also, have the walls of the 
hive of some warm porous material that will 
absorb moisture and afterward dry out read- 
ily, you have the idea so far. Perhaps the 
chaff cushions and Division-boards are the 
readiest means at our command of accom- 
plishing this. 

While they may get along on almost any 
kind of food when thus prepared, I would 
by no means fail to give them good whole- 
some stores, as far as possible. Honey gath- 
ered in the middle of the season is generally 
wholesome, for by the time winter comes, 
it is thoroughly ripened, by the same dry- 
ing-out power I have spoken of. Honey 
gathered in the fall, if sealed up, is generally 
good ; but some of the fall flowers produce a 
honey that seems to separate into a thin 
watery liquid, and a granular substance, 
something like candied honey. I am not 
quite sure this causes dysentery, but it looks 
in some seasons very much as if it does. A 
syrup made of white, or whitish sugar, I be- 
lieve is always wholesome ; and when bees 
are short of stores, it is probably the cheap- 
est and safest of any thing we can feed late 
in the fall. We have had one report of the 
new grape sugar seeming to indicate that it 
might be productive of dysentery, but it has 
answered so nicely in our apiary, up to this 
date, Jan. loth, 1879, that I am inclined to 
think the quality of the sugar was not quite 
like that we use. 

I once wintered a colony on sugar stores, 
that came out so healthy in the spring that 



DYSENTERY. 

they did not even spot'the white snow visi- 
bly, when they voided their excrement at 
their first flight in the spring. This, I be- 
lieve, we may consider perfect freedom from 
any sign of dysentery. A friend who is'an 
old - time box-hive bee-keeper, says it is the 
pollen that makes them spot the snow ; that 
if they are wintered without pollen, they 
will make no perceptible spot. I think there 
may be some truth in this, for those winter- 
ed without pollen seem to spot the snow but 
little. Spotting the snow is not always an 
indication that we should be alarmed, espe- 
cially if the bees seem to rise without troub- 
le, and get back to the hive in safety ; but 
should they soil the entrance and inside of 
their hives, and then fall around the en- 
trance in considerable numbers, unable to 
take wing, it is pretty safe^to say, that with- 
out very warm fine weather they will soon be 
demoralized and broken up. 

CURE FOR DYSENTERY. 

Summer weather seems to be a sure and 
certain cure. One day of summer weather, 
or a day warm enough for them all to fly 
freely, is, I believe, a cure usually; especial- 
ly if they are provided with wholesome food 
and tucked up warm, after they have had 
this fly. 

The question now comes up, Can we not 
give them this needed fly by artificial 
means? It has been done, many times with 
success, by taking the hive into a warm 
room, and fixing a square frame of thin 
cloth or netting oVer it, in which they can 
fly and empty themselves. This frame 
should be about a yard square. The room 
should be light and warm. After they are 
through, the temperature should be allowed 
to fall, until they are driven back into the 
cluster on the frames. To avoid soiling the 
hive and combs, papers may be spread over 
them, only allowing an opening for the 
bees to come up into the cage. This is a 
troublesome and disagreeable task, and I 
think will hardly pay, unless it is with a few 
hives, or to save a very valuable queen. A 
beginner is very apt to be alarmed, when 
there is no . trouble at all ; and I repeat, un- 
less the bees are soiling the combs in the 
hive, and getting themselves soiled, damp, 
and demoralized, I would let them alone 
(after tucking them up with chaff cushions) 
to take their chances -until there comes a 
warm day. I know of a beginner who, on 
looking into his hive and finding only a 
small cluster away down in the combs, im- 
agined they were nearly all dead; and hear- 
ing, through the journals, of giving them a 



7 D YSENTEBY. 

fly in a cage, took the innocent and unof- 
fending bees into the house, and warmed 
them up. The little knot of bees began to 
unfold under the influence of the warmth, 
and turned out to be a good-sized colony. 
They had packed themselves down into a 
little sphere, so small that an inexperienced 
person would have been likely, at first 
glance, to call them only a good-sized hand- 
ful ; but they were a good swarm, and were 
in just the shape they should be to stand a 
zero freeze, or, rather, they had done the 
very best they could do in a winter brood- 
nest four or five times as large as they really 
needed. 

If the trouble is caused by bad honey, and 
this is many times the case, they should be 
removed from their combs, after their flight, 
and supplied with honey which you know, 
or have reason to think, is good, well rip- 
ened, and wholesome. Every bee-keeper 
should have a stock of such combs on hand 
for emergencies. They can be taken from 
the hives during the yield from clover or 
linden, in July or Aug. If you can not get 
these, I would give them candy, a small 
lump at a time, just over the cluster, the 
bees, of course, being on empty combs. 'Tis 
rather; risky, I know for after the bees have 
become diseased as I have mentioned, they 
seem to be discouraged, and to have lost all 
heart to do any thing. I have known them 
to starve with candy or honey close to them, 
at such a time. If you can stir up some am- 
bition in them, and get them to clean off 
their wings and "plumage," and go to work, 
there will be no trouble; but so long as they 
preserve that listlessness and indifference, 
there is but little hope for them ; they will 
probably swarm out on the first warm day, 
if you do "tinker them up." If the season is 
pretty well along, say April or May, you can 
often stir up their ambition by giving them 
a little unsealed brood from another colony. 
The old adage, that an ounce of prevention 
is better than a pound of cure, will apply 
most emphatically to dysentery. It may be 
that we can not always prevent dysentery, for 
some cases seem rather difficult to account 
for, but I think we can in the great majority 
of cases. 

THE AGENCY OF THE APniDES IN PRODUC- 
ING DYSENTERY. 

Perhaps the most productive cause of dys- 
entery is the honey from the Aphides ; or 
at least most complaints have been made of 
this honey. As bees seldom touch this, ex- 
cept during droughts or unfavorable seasons, 
it is quite likely it has been the cause of 



DYSENTERY. 

much of the mischief. If the early honey is 
all extracted from the brood-combs, and the 
bees left with nothing but this bad honey, 
gathered late in the fall, the matter is much 
worse ; and many cases have been reported, 
of colonies dying where the extractor had 
been used, while those untouched had been 
free from the disease. The moral is, re- 
frain from extracting too closely from the 
brood-apartment. I would, at least, let the 



78 DYSENTERY. 

bees fill their brood-chamber with clover or 
linden honey, just before the yield ceases, 
extracting toward the close of the harvest, 
only from the combs in the upper story, un- 
less you choose to feed them up for winter, 
on sugar or candy. We have had one or 
two favorable] reports of wintering on the 
aphidian honey, from which we may con- 
clude it is not always deleterious. 










S3 






mus 




■i:jiiiii 



- 'i<^ z *, _ j ■;__ _ - ~ ; ;- ■; _ -*hs 



a^Miai^ 



, -mm 



A CALIFORNIA APIARY, NEAU SAX DIISOO. 



E. 



OP BEES. These are, so 
far as I know, taking them alphabetically, 
Ants,Bee-moths, birds (King-birds), mice, 
parasites, skunks, Toads (and frogs), and 
wasps. Perhaps I should also add, wicked 
boys or men who have so little regard for 
the rights and faithful hard earnings of their 
fellows, that they sometimes steal hives, 
honey and all, just for the trifling amount of 
honey to be got from the mashed-up ruins, 
which they generally make of the bees and 
hives. To be frank, I should add patent- 
hive men ; and these latter, so far as my ex- 
perience goes, have been worse enemies of 
the bee than any I have yet enumerated. It 
has been said, and with much justice, that 
ignorant bee-keepers are the bees' worst 
enemies. If ignorance had coupled with it, 
willful deceit and fraud, I do not know but 
that I should subscribe to the assertion ; but 
as those who have been ignorant are now 
very rapidly becoming educated and intelli- 
gent bee-keepers, I have much charity for 
them. The man who is persistently and will- 
fully bad, is not only the worst enemy of 
bees, but of all mankind, himself included ; 
and of this class are the greater part of those 
who take money for their pretended inven- 
tions in bee-hives. I am speaking severely, 
I am aware ; but could you, year after year, 
hear, as I have, the statements of those who 
have taken up the pursuit with all honest en- 
thusiasm, and hear them tell of how they 
have invested money and time, all in a 
wrong direction, of how they have been pur- 
posely kept in the dark in regard to what was 
really known about bees, of how they have 
been told that the bee-moth is the one great 
enemy, and that no one else has the secret 
of its banishment, I think you would agree 
that these land-sharks in human form are 
worse enemies than all the moths, birds, and 
toads combined, that ever infested the 
neighborhood of bee-hives. 

Ants and bee-moths have been noticed al- 
ready in their respective places ; under the 
head of Kingbirds we shall mention what 



is known of the depredations the feathered 
tribes make on bees. 

MICE. 

Mice do harm only when they get into the 
hives, and this part of the subject will be 
sufficiently noticed under the head of En- 
trances. It may be well to remark that 
mice sometimes make sad havoc among sur- 
plus combs, when stored away with small 
patches of honey in them. The combs will 
be completely riddled during the winter 
time, if they are left where mice can get at 
them. On this account, the honey-house 
should be mouse-proof ; and for fear that a 
stray one may by accident get in, it is well 
to keep a trap ready, baited with toasted 
cheese. If you have not a tight room, make 
a tight box, large enough to hold all the sur- 
plus combs which have honey in them. 

PARASITES. 

The only parasite we have ever seen is 
the Braula, or Italian bee-louse, and we 
have never seen them except on bees just 
imported from Italy. I feel safe in saying 
no fear may be anticipated from them, if the 
bees are kept in strong colonies, and in clean 
tight hives, with no old refuse and rubbish 
accumulating about them. One or two re- 
ports have been received of bee-lice in our 
own country, but I think they were excep- 
tions. 

SKUNKS. 

Skunks have been known to approach the 
hive at night time, and, by scratching 
on or near the alighting-board, to entice the 
bees out where they could " gobble them 
up." It would seem a little strange that 
these animals have no fear of stings, but 
they, doubtless, are guided by a sort of in- 
stinct that enables them to divine how to 
get hold of the bee with its sweet morsel of 
honey in its honey-sack, without receiving 
harm from the sting. 

SPIDERS. 

Spiders, and the method of repelling them, 
we have mentioned under Alighting- 
boards and Porticos, They too, as well 



ENEMIES OF BEES. 



82 



ENTRANCES TO HIVES. 



as toads, seem to have a rare appreciation 
of a heavily laden bee as he returns to the 
hive ; we should therefore be careful that 
all spider-webs be faithfully kept brushed 
away from the hives, and that the hives 
have no corners or crevices about them, to 
harbor such insects. Be sure that there is no 
place which the broom will not clear out at j 
one sweep; for where we have a hundred ' 
hives we can not well spend a great amount j 
of time on each single one. The house-apia- 
ry is quite convenient in this respect, and it 
gives me a hue appetite for breakfast to J 
go out bareheaded, and brush off every trace 
of a web, with such genuine good will that 
the poor spiders, as soon as they have recov- 
ered from their astonishment, with one ac- 
cord agree that the locality is an unhealthy 
one for those who believe in driving a thrif- 
ty business. 

I am inclined to think that many of these 
so-called enemies only take up the destruc- 
tion of bees as a chance habit, and that it is 
not always to be looked for or expected. 
Common fowls sometimes get a habit of eat- 
ing their own eggs; but it is so unusual an oc- 
currence that we can hardly regard it as a 
matter of any very serious importance. It 
may be well, at times, to look out for the 
enemies that prey on bees; but, as a general 
tiling, I think they are quite capable of 
lighting their own battles, if we give them 
the proper care and proper hives. 

WASPS. 

Wasps and hornets sometimes capture and 
carry off honey-bees; but unless they should 
take part in the work in great numbers, I 
would have no solicitude in regard to them. 

A large fly, called the bee-hawk, or mos- 
quito-hawk, has been mentioned by our 
Southern neighbors, but it is said to be easi- 
ly frightened away by opening a vigorous 
warfare with whips and sticks.* 

THIEVES AND PATENT-RIGHT VENDERS. 

Under Apiary I have mentioned how we 
can protect our hives from the inroads of 
thieves, but I fear it will require something 
more than tight high fences to protect bee- 
Irepcrs from venders of patent hives. I do 
not know a single patented feature on bee- 
hives and implements (and there are hun- 
dreds and hundreds of them), that would 
come into general use if the patent were re- 
moved. Almost constantly I aim receiving 
descriptions and circulars of some patent 
hive, asking if I would advise investing in 
them; and although I have faithfully exam- 
ined every thing that has come up, I find 

*For further particulars, and also for descriptions 
of Asilus Missoitriensis, Mattophora orcina, Mallopho- 
ra bnmhoidcs, and other insect-enemies to bees, see 
Prof. Cook's Manual. 



them pretty much all alike ; either wretched 
mistakes and blunders, or the work of 
greedy, unprincipled, bad men. Have noth- 
ing to do with them, and under no circum- 
stances think of paying them money. No, 
not even if they are ministers of the gospel, 
as many of them claim to be ; and some of 
them are, I presume, God-fearing men whom 
the sharpers have, by oily words, persuaded 
to undertake the work ; for they know full 
well that there is no advertisement in the 
world like having lieverend attached to the 
name of their agent, or among the testimo- 
nials appended to their circulars. I would 
that I were able to convince some ministers 
of the sacredness of their calling, and of 
the importance of the most zealous care in 
guarding it from contamination* 

So far as the winged, feathered, and four- 
footed tribes are concerned, we have, my 
friends, but little to fear from enemies of 
bees, and we shall have but an easy task to 
keep them in subservience ; but from igno- 
rant and unprincipled men we have much to 
fear; and we have abundant need of the 
most earnest and faithful work, in the shape 
of Christian kindness, united with a firm 
and decided stand against speculators and 
sharpers. 

ENTRANCES TO HIVES. I do 
not know that it makes any very great differ- 
ence to the bees, or with the amount of hon- 
ey gathered, where the entrance is ; wheth- 
er at the very lowest part of the hive, or 
right in the top. I have had them do well 
with their entrance in almost all positions. 
On many accounts, an entrance even with, 
or a little below, the bottom-board of the 
hive would be most desirable. This gives 
the bees every facility for removing filth, or 
dead bees that frequently clog the hive and 
combs in cold weather, also bits of refuse 
comb, cappings from the cells, dust, etc., for 
this all falls to the bottom of the hive, and 
is naturally carried toward the entrance by 
the passage, out and in, of the inmates. Al- 
so, if the upper part of the hive is close and 
warm, the warm air generated by the clus- 
ter, rising by its lightness, compared with 
the colder air outdoors, has a much less 
chance for escape than if the entrance were 
nearer the top of the hive. It the entrance 
is a little below the bottom -board, cold 
winds and storms are not so readily ad- 
mitted. 

It has been said, that an entrance part way 
up will not be so liable to become clogged 
with dead bees. This I admit ; but I think 
it would be much better to have no dead 
bees at all in the hive, and we seldom, if 



ENTRANCES TO HIVES. 8: 

ever, see any in the chaff hive or in any hive I 
that is equally well protected. It has also 
been said, that if the bees could get in near- 1 
er the top of the hive, they would have a 
short path to the center of the brood-nest, j 
where they generally make then way about ] 
as soon as they gain a foothold. This I ad- j 
mit in part; but if we give the bees this short 
cut ?'», we also give the warm air of the 
brood-nest a short cut out. Besides, with i 
the shallow L. frames we use and advise, j 
the bees have but a short distance to climb. 
All things considered, I think we can not do 
better than to have the entrance just below j 
the bottom-board, as in the two hives we 
have illustrated. In the Simplicity hive, the 
entrance is made by pushing the hive for- 
ward so as to project a little over the bottom- 
board. This arrangement, while about as 
simple as any thing can be, has some very 
decided advantages ; if the entrance is to be j 
enlarged, it is done by simply moving the 
hive forward still further. This gives the 
most thorough ventilation, without in any 
way confusing the bees by making unusual 
openings ; and with a very strong colony it 
permits all hands to rush out for the fields I 
in the morning, with a facility I have never ] 
seen in any other arrangement. With the j 
old-style L. hives, we used to have a venti- ; 
lator at the back. Of course, these ventila- j 
tors would be used by the bees as places of 
exit. If we covered them with wire cloth, 
bees would be constantly biting and buzzing j 
at the wires, trying to get out. Why not let | 
them use these for entrances ? Well, so we \ 
did; but when it became desirable to close i 
them in the fall, many bees would be con- 
fused and lost, when, by simply enlarging 
and contracting the usual entrance, we have 
no such trouble. 

I need hardly add, that where we have the j 
entrances arranged in this manner, close to f 
the ground, we must have the ground clean | 
and free from weeds for several feet around ' 
and in front of the hive. See Apiary and | 
Alighting-boards. 

The entrances to all hives, in the winter ; 
time, should be closed to such a width that 
no mice can by any possibility get in ; if they 
do not exceed f of an inch, there will be no 
danger. When bees are wintered in the open j 
air without protection, the dead bees are i 
liable to fall down, and clog the entrance. 
As soon as a warm day comes, they will try 
desperately to get out. The apiarist should 
be on hand at such a time, and while he lifts 
the hive from the bottom-board, an assistant 
with a broom should quickly brush off I 



; ENTRANCES TO HIVES. 

every accumulation. The hives and combs 
should then be fixed so that no more may 
straggle away from the cluster and get fro- 
zen between the empty combs. 

SIZE OF ENTRANCES. 

With strong colonies, this is a matter of 
no great importance, providing the entrance 
is large enough to let all the bees out and 
in readily, in the height of the honey season, 
and not so large as to let in too great an 
amount of cold air during the severest win- 
ter weather. In the house-apiary we use a 
two-inch auger-hole, but it is, in reality, re- 
duced to about 11, by a piece of thin white- 
wood veneer steamed and rolled up into a 
tube. The size of these entrances seems 
about right for a strong colony ; if the colo- 
ny is weak, we reduce it with a wad of pa- 
per. The entrances are left full size all win- 
ter, and, all things considered, I think the 
size is about right. We were, one winter, 
troubled somewhat by mice getting in at the 
lower ones, and metal guards were made, 
reducing the size to a f-inch slot ; this kept 
out the mice, but it bothered the bees so 
much that we were glad to take them away 
and get a big cat to guard the outside, 
which he has done so faithfully that we 
have had no further trouble. See Enemies 
or Bees. 

The entrances to the chaff hives are I 
wide, by about 8 inches long. If the colony 
is a full one, we leave them open full length 
all winter. If weak, contract to about one 
inch; and for nuclei, sometimes, so that 
just a single bee can pass. We contract 
them by cutting a piece of wood 7x2x&, 
and covering it with some warm thick wool- 
en cloth. Some apiarists, I believe, prac- 
tice closing the entrances to all hives din- 
ing very severe weather, opening them 
again when the weather moderates. This, 
I think, is carrying the matter entirely 
too far, and it reminds one of the philan- 
thropic old gentleman who stood in the rain 
while he held his umbrella over the ducks 
in a puddle. We have wintered bees in the 
chaff hives, with the entrance open its 
whole length, during the most severe win- 
ters, with scarcely a dead bee having been 
brought out when it came off warm, and I 
think the bees are perfectly capable of tak- 
ing care of themselves for at least six 
months of the year, if they have proper 
food and protection. To have the entrance 
left open full width, of course Ave must have 
the hive contracted to a smll compass, and 
perfectly closed above, or the entrance will 
draw in the cold air, like the draft to a stove. 
Stop every crack and crevice, with chaff 



EXTRACTED HOXEY. 



84 



EXTRACTED HONEY 



cushions tightly crowded in ; and if you do 
your work well, instead of cold air forcing 
its way in at the entrance, you will find the 
bees can keep warm, and send a stream of 
hot air out at the entrance besides, as soon 
as they commence rearing brood in the 
spring. If you have hives that you cannot 
close up with the chaff cushions, as I have 
advised, it may be best to close the entranc- 
es during very severe weather ; but I think 
I would always leave room enough for one 
or two bees to pass, lest they be forgotten, 
when warm weather comes unexpectedly. 
It is very bad policy to confine bees to their 
hives when the weather is such that they 
would try to get out. Bees wintered in a 
dark cool cellar may have wire cloth tacked 
over the front and top to keep them from 
getting on the floor, if you choose, but in 
this case you should take them out and re- 
lease them should the weather get so warm 
that they are impatient or uneasy. When 
bees are wintered on their summer stands, 
they are always ready for a fly whenever a 
warm day occurs, and are in shape to take 
care of themselves, under almost any cir- 
cumstances, providing they have a free and 
unobstructed entrance. 

Mr. Quinbyand others have recommended 
having an auger-hole in the front end of the 
hive, and adduce as proof of its utility, that 
the bees at once show a preference for this 
pass- way. I have no doubt of it, and I think 
if an auger-hole were made directly in the 
top of the hive, they would show a still 
greater preference for that ; but for all this, 
I do not think it would bs best for them. 
With tall frames, I think such an auger- 
hole might be a great advantage, but with 
our shallow L. frame I would prefer not to 
have it, although it would perhaps do no 
perceptible harm to a strong colony with old 
and tough combs. You can easily make the 
experiment; and if you do not like the auger 
holes, plug them up again. I "much prefer 
you should verify these statements by tests 
of your own. If I have made a mistake 
anywhere, write, and I will correct it, before 
I send out any more ABC books. 

EXTRACTED HONEY. Liquid 
honey, taken from the comb with the honey- 
extractor, has now been before the world 
for 10 years, and much has been the discus- 
sion, pro and con, in regard to its merits, 
and its desirableness compared with comb 
honey, for table use. If I have made no 
mistake, I extracted the first ton of honey 
ever taken from one apiary, with the extract- 
or ; and as it was put directly into market. 



[ and such honey has been kept in market con- 
! stantly ever since, I have had a pretty good 
j opportunity of knowing all about it. 

If all the extracted honey put upon the 
j market were as good as some we have raised 
i and purchased, there would, I am quite sure, 
j be no trouble at all in deciding that it would 
; drive honey in the comb almost out of the 
question. Much has been said about adul- 
teration, but I have very little fear in that 
; direction. It is almost as impossible to imi- 
tate a really fine article of clover or linden 
honey, as it is to imitate fresh strawberries. 
Let the people taste of the honey they are 
asked to buy, and they will very soon say 
whether they want it, and what they can 
afford to pay for it. 23 

A really nice article of extracted honey 
! will bring 20 or 25c, quicker than a poor 
; article will bring 10 or 15; and I have seen 
| some, aye, and have offered it for sale too, 
that I do not honestly think was worth over 
! 5c, if it was worth anything at all, unless to 
feed bees. Is all this difference on account 
of the source from which it was gathered V 
Xot at all ; for all the honey we get here, in 
the great majority of seasons, is from clover 
and linden. Then where is the great differ- 
( enceV It is, so far as my experience goes, 
I simply because it is taken from the hive 
j before it is ripe. I know there are many 
who do not agree with me, and I presume 
I in some seasons, and in some localities, the 
I honey may be ready to extract as fast as it 
is gathered from the flowers. 21 I make this 
admission solely from what others have said, 
for I have never seen any honey I thought 
was fit to extract, until it was all sealed 
over. Still further, I do not believe it is 
nearly as nice, even when it is all sealed 
over, as it will be if left in the hive three or 
four weeks after it has been all sealed. I 
will tell you some of my experience to illus- 
trate the point. 

In 1870 we extracted, from our apiary of 
less than 50 colonies, over 3 tons of honey. 
It was put up in 1-lb. bottles, and more than 
half was sold for 25c per lb. During the 
fore part of the season, the honey was al- 
lowed to get pretty well capped over ; but 
during basswood bloom, we, bees and all, 
got somewhat crazy, I fear, and they brought 
in what was but little better than sweet- 
ened water ; we extracted and put it in- 
to bottles, and hurried it off to fill "orders, 
j hoping it would all get " good," as soon as 
I the weather got cool. It candied when the 
weather became cool, for almost all honey 
| will candy, or at least one portion will can- 



EXTRACTED HONEY. 



So 



EXTRACTED HONEY. 



dy, leaving a thin watery part, which, if it 
does not sour, acquires in time a disagreea- 
ble brackish flavor, like that acquired by 
liquids standing in an old barrel. At 
about this stage it shows that peculiar qual- 
ity of pushing the bungs out of the barrels, 
and the corks out of the bottles, running 
over on the shelves and tables, to the dis- 
comfiture and disgust of everybody who 
likes to be cleanly in his habits. When I 
tasted some of the honey in one of these 
bottles, 6 months afterward, I did not won- 
der it had stopped selling, and I made up 
my mind it should no more be offered for 
sale. I believe it was all poured out of the 
bottles, and sold to a tobacconist. The con- 
tents of the jars were not all alike, for the 
thin watery honey has quite a tendency to j 
swim on top. We, one season, commenced j 
to retail from a barrel of what all pronounc- 
ed fine clover honey: one day a custom- 
er returned some, saying it was not like 
what he bought before. We assured him it 
was drawn from the same barrel, and went 
and drew some, to convince him. Behold ! it 
was sweetened water, compared with the 
first. The thin honey having risen to the 
top, it was the last to be drawn out. 

Again, new honey has, many times, a 
rank, disagreeable odor and taste. I have 
been told that in the Eastern States 
much honey is sometimes obtained from the 
fields where onion seeds are raised for the 
market, and that this honey, when first 
gathered, is so strong of onions that it can 
not be used. In a few weeks, however, this 
rank and disagreeable flavor is all gone, 
and the honey is very fair. Few persons 
can tolerate the strong, aromatic flavor of 
basswood honey when first gathered, and 
some of the jars I have mentioned, when 
opened, gave one an impression that some- 
thing akin to turpentine had been mixed 
with the honey, This was because it had 
been closely corked when first gathered; had 
it been left in the comb until sealed, the un- 
pleasant taste would have been mostly gone. 
I say mostly, for even sealing does not seem 
to entirely remove the rank flavor, unless 
the combs have been some weeks in the 
hive. A few days ago I took a beautiful- 
looking piece of comb honey out of a jar 
that was found in the market. On opening 
the cells I found the honey had such a rank 
basswood flavor, that it was, to me, quite 
disagreeable, and yet I am fond of the bass- 
wood flavor. Very white, new comb honey 
is seldom of the fine, pure, sweet flavor of 
honey that lias been along time capped 



over, such as is found in the dark-looking 
comb. To which shall we give the prefer- 
ence — looks or taste? In 1876 we were so 
busy that we could not attend to extracting, 
and so we raised the filled stories up, and 
put those filled with empty combs just un- 
der them over the brood. This occupied 
little time, and the bees were not hindered in 
their work, a single moment. I have never 
seen bees amass stores faster. Some swarms 
filled four stories to repletion, and the whole 
was left on the hives until the latter part of 
the summer. In fact, I left them on the 
hives to be safe from the depredations of 
the moth, intending to cut out the honey 
and sell it in the comb, or to extract it, 
whichever form should prove most market- 
able. This honey was cut out of the frames 
and sold the following winter, and it was 
the nicest and richest honey I ever saw or 
tasted. To my astonishment, the liquid 
portions that ran out when the combs were 
cut would not candy at all, even when ex- 
posed to a zero freeze. The honey was so 
thick, that a saucer full could be turned 
over without spilling, and it had a bright 
crystalline clearness, when compared with 
ordinary extracted honey. 

Extracted honey, if taken out while 
"green" (as I have often termed the un- 
ripened state), has a greenish tinge, which 
well-ripened honey has not. Some speci- 
mens have a turbid, or cloudy look, and I 
believe such honey is never really fine 
flavored. I am well aware that I am con- 
demning the honey I have been selling, by 
these remarks, but I can not help it. If I 
had now some extracted honey such as was 
taken from those well - ripened combs, I 
would feel that it was preferable, at 25c, to 
that which I am now selling at 15. Proper- 
ly ripened basswood or clover honey has a 
sparkling clearness, like white flint glass, 
and the flavor is pure and exquisite. I 
have never seen any nice-looking comb hon- 
ey equal to it, for the market always de- 
mands comb honey that is white, and has 
not remained on the hive a long time. 25 I 
do not mean to say that extracted honey 
should be without color, like water, for it 
usually has an amber tint, or it may be 
quite yelloAV ; but it should be clear, so that 
you can read print, without trouble, through 
a jar of jt. After it has candied, if it does 
pandy, it should be hard and free from any 
liquid portion, like that in unripened hon- 
ey. This thin liquid portion is the part 
that usually changes and gives it the bad 
taste, In fact, if the liquid portion bp 
6 



EXTBACTED HONEY. 



si; 



EXTRACTED HONEY. 



drained off, as directed under Candied 
Honey, the solid portion may be melted, 
and it will be found very nearly like that 
ripened in the hive. 

HOW TO SELL EXTRACTED HONEY. 

Get it well ripened, as I have just told 
you, and then strain it into clean tin cans, 
into barrels coated with paraffine or bees- 
wax, or into some utensil that you know 
will not taint it in the least. Honey is 
very easily damaged by any thing that will 
mar its pure flavor, or clear transparent 
appearance to the eye. If you are going 
to retail it you can keep it in a tall can, 
with a honey-gate at the bottom. Set it up 
at a convenient height, and have a pair of 
cheap scales directly under the gate, on 
which you can set the bowls, pitchers, or 
pails, that your customers may bring. You 
can by this means weigh it out to a fraction, 
without any dripping or daubing. If it is 
to be sold in honey-jars, set your jars in a 
basin, under the gate. I say in a basin, for 
unless you are more careful than people 
generally, you will get some over the sides, 
or run a jar over, and it is much pleasanter 
to have it in the basin than on the table or 
fioor. I have given the preference to the 
self-sealing quart fruit-jars, because every- 
body has use for these, and will be likely to 
keep them. If the jars are purchased by 
the gross, they can be retailed with the 
honey, at a slight advance on first cost, full 
enough, usually, to pay all expenses of 
handling, and a good interest on the use of 
the money invested. The Mason jar, which 
we generally use, costs $12.50 per gross, 
and we charge for them, with the honey, 
10c. A quart jar holds about 3 lbs. One- 
pound jars sell rather better, but we have to 
sell three times as many, and consumers 
have little or no use for the jars when 
empty. I think it will be well to keep 
both kinds on hand, as well as some Hb. 
tumblers or jelly-cups, for the multitudes 
who want " just a little " for one reason or 
another. If you commence giving, now and 
then, a little without any charge, you will 
find the demand a severe task on your time 
as well as honey; and if you have these 
small packages all ready at hand, for 10 or 
15c, you will find a great many will be sold 
in the course of a year. 

If you wish your honey to keep from can- 
dying, seal it up hot, like fruit, as directed in 
Candied Honey. The self-sealing fruit- 
jars need no directions, but the bottles with 
corks will have to be made tight with melt- 
ed beeswax. Dip the corks in melted wax 



until they are perfectly coated on both 
sides, and then push them in place while 
the mouth of the jar is hot, and perfectly 
dry. If it is wet, or has the least particle 
of honey on it, you can never make it air- 
tight. To make a neat job of it, you can 
dip the mouth of the jar carefully in some 
bright nice yellow wax, and then you will 
have it, as far as possible, protected from 
the air with a capping of wax, precisely as 
the bees do it. 

This thin, watery honey, when heated to 
melt the candied honey, with which it may 
be commingled, even if it is exposed to a 
heat much less than the boiling-point, will 
turn a dark reddish color, and the flavor is 
something as if the honey was burned 
slightly. I, at first, was inclined to blame 
my wife for overheating it, when I desired 
her to make the experiment ; but as the 
honey was white when this liquid portion 
was entirely drained off, I finally guessed at 
the truth. We can get some beautiful, pure, 
ripe honey out of a very bad lot, by drain- 
ing the candied portion for several weeks, 
and then melting it. 

To give you an idea of how extracted hon- 
ey sells in our cities, I give you a few notes 
from a friend on the Cleveland market, to 
whom we have sold several barrels of honey 
during the past six months. The honey was 
put up in Mutlfs 1-lb. glass jars. Each jar 
was labeled, wrapped in a sheet of clean pa- 
per, and packed in sawdust, in the same box- 
es that the jars came in. To prevent the 
boxes from being "dumped," we nailed strips 
of wood to each side of the box, rounded off 
the projecting ends to make convenient han- 
dles, and shipped them as freight. The R. 
R. employes, I suppose, looked at the smooth 
handles, knowing at once what they were 
for, read the label that kindly asked them 
not to "dump," and the consequence is, not 
a single bottle has ever been reported injur- 
ed. Were you a "railroad man, 1 ' you would 
probably do as railroad men do. Here are the 
letters. 

That honey sold quickly this morning 1 . It you can 
furnish me that quality, I can sell it. Send the oth- 
er as soon as possible. L. B. Oviatt. 

Cleveland, O. Aug. 16, 1877. 

We received the one pound bottles last Friday; put 
them on the stand Saturday, and retailed H of them 
that day. If you can furnish me that kind of honey 
lean sell it. The small bottles I have just got from 
the depot, all in good shape. Please send 12 doz. 1-lb. 
bottles as soon as possible. Get them here Friday 
if you can. L. B. Oviatt. 

Cleveland, O. Sept. 3, 1877. 

I shall want some honey in a few days. Have 
about 30 of the 1 lb. bottles left yet. The 1-lb. bottles 



EXTRACTED HONEY 



87 



EXTRACTED HONEY. 



sell best. I am getting- very nice comb honey now 
for 19c per lb., which is hurting- the sale of 'bottled 
honey. I do not think that will last long-. Your hon- 
ey gives good satisfaction. I scald a few bottles at a 
time, and it makes it look very nice. I will order in 
a few days. L. B. Oviatt. 

Cleveland, O., Nov. 8, 1877. 

Please send me a case of honey, if you can send it 
like the last shipment. That is thicker and better 
flavored than the other, and sells rapidly. Send it in 
the 1-lb. square bottles. I want it the first of the 
week. I did not know I was so nearly out or I would 
have ordered before. I am about done with comb 
honey, and I can sell bottles fast after this, if it is 
nice. What is your price for those tin cans for fill- 
ing bottles? L. B. Oviatt. 

Cleveland, O., Feb. 32, 1877. 

Mr. O. paid us 16c for the 1-lb. bottles, put 
up in the way I have mentioned. The one 
lot that he did not like was some unripened 
honey that we purchased of a neighbor. 

Some attempts have been made to get hon- 
ey into a marketable shape in its candied 
state, but so far have been unsuccessful, so 
far as I know, although candied honey can 
be drained out so dry that it may be done | 
up in a paper safely, and we have had some 
specimens nearly as white as loaf sugar. 26 

HOW TO KEEP EXTRACTED HONEY. 

Where one has a large crop of it, and but 
a small price is offered, it is sometimes 
quite an item to know what to do with it. 
Without question, the very best way to keep 
it is to seal it up while hot, as before de- 
scribed, either in self-sealing jars, or in glass 
bottles with their corks coated and made 
tight with beeswax. The expense of the 
jars, and the troublesome job of sealing 
them, is the principal objection. Perhaps , 
the next best way to keep it is in the coated 
barrels, or in tin cans. 27 A friend keeps his ! 
very nicely in stone crocks, with stone cov- 
ers over them. In these it is candied and is | 
as hard as tallow ; but it can easily be cut out, : 
when wanted. After it is candied in the 
barrels, the hoops must be moved to get it j 
out. See Barrels. Both extracted and 
comb honey should be kept in a dry room. . 
If this room can be at the same time frost- 
proof, it will be much the better ; for when 
dew or dampness of any kind forms on the : 
surface of honey, it is absorbed, and thus 
dilutes and injures the honey. This pro- j 
cess will, in time, cause it to sour or ferment 
on the surface, and will surely injure your 
reputation if you try to sell it. Jars that j 
are used to hold extracted honey are some- 
times so hastily washed and rinsed, that ' 
enough water is left sticking to the glass, to 
produce the same effect, and I am quite I 
sure that not a little of the trouble expe- 1 



rienced with bottled honey has come from 
this cause. Let the bottles be clean and dry, 
and the honey perfectly sealed while hot. 
Then you can keep it down cellar, or up 
stairs, or anywhere you wish. A friend in 
the West says he keeps his extracted honey 
outdoors in an open shed all winter, and 
that when the neighbors come for it, he cuts 
it out of the barrels with a spade. I think 
such a place would be preferable to a damp 
cellar. 

VARIOUS PACKAGES FOR SHIPPING AND 
SELLING EXTRACTED HONEY. 

It is now November, 1882, and extracted 
honey has just taken quite an impetus in 
public favor. A little to my surprise, peo- 
ple are beginning to demand honey that is 
candied, instead of making it an objection. 
Our friend C. F. Muth, of Cincinnati, one of 
the largest honey -dealers in the world, says 
he now has many customers who will not 
have honey unless it is candied. Friend 
Jones, of Canada, of whom mention has 
been made, has also done much, as has C. 
H. Dadant, of Hamilton, 111., toward getting 
the honey into convenient packages to bring 
it before the public. Friend Dadant has 
given us five sizes of covered pails ; viz., li, 
2i, 5, 10, and 25 lbs. respectively. Friend 
Jones struck on the idea of putting it up in 
packages still smaller, and commences with 
a package of only i lb. that can be sold for 5 
cents, or given away as a sample of the 
honey. The sizes are i, i, 1, 1 lb., 2£, and 5 
lbs. For each size, friend Jones has origi- 
nated beautiful lithographed labels, which 
are, in fact, beautiful chromos ; and as the 
surface is varnished, these labels are easily 
cleaned, if any honey gets daubed on their 
surface. The \ and i sizes are simply tin 
boxes with a cover slipping over, and are to 
be taken to the grocer, with the honey in a 
tin can, and he fills them as they are sold. 
Tbey are easily handled when filled, after 
the honey has become candied. The i and 1 
lb. boxes are made so they can be sealed up 
by wax, or the ordinary fruit-can cement, 
and thus become marketable, already filled. 
The 2J and 5 lb. are made in a similar way, 
but have bails so as to make a very pretty 
little pail when labeled with these chromo 
labels. As the covers are easily removed 
without injuring the pail, the purchaser has 
a very handy little pail for use, after the 
honey is taken out. All of these sizes that 
close with cement can be sealed up while 
the honey is hot, and thus prevent granula- 
tion. Some very handy waxed strings have 
been devised, for sealing these pails and 
boxes rapidly, and in a cleanly manner. 



EXTKACTED HOa E Y. 



88 



EXTRACTED HONEY 



Below we give you a picture of a 24-lb. pail, 
showing the manner in which it is made. 





JONES'S 2i-POUND HONEY-PAIL. 

The 5-lb. pail is exactly like it, only twice 
as high. These pails are made so cheaply 
that their expense is less than 2 cents per lb. 
for each pound of honey they contain. 

A FEW NEW PACKAGES. 

May, 1884.— Within the past two years two 
new packages for honey have found favor. 
We illustrate them below. 





SCRBW-CAP PAIL. SLOPING-SIDE PAIL. 

This is the Jones screw-cap honey-pail. 
This cap is sufficiently tight to admit of ship- 
ping long distances, without leaking. The 
pails are made in U sizes, from I to lbs. The 
other is a honey-pail holding about 1\ lbs., 
made with sloping sides, so they will nest to- 





ROUND 

I; PURE / 

HOMEY 



gether. for the purpose of shipping. By this 
means we are enabled to pack 100 pails and 
covers in a good-sized common barrel. 

While friend Jones has done so much to 
develop tin packages for extracted honey, it 
will be seen that friend C. E. Muth, of Cin- 
cinnati, (_)., has been equally active in giving 
us nice packages made of (/Zeiss. Below we 
illustrate the four jars that he uses. The 
smallest size is what Mr. Muth calls the 
" dime " jar, and has been lately introduced. 
It holds about live ounces. 

The price of these is $3.25 per gross, ship- 
ped from Cincinnati, which would be a little 
over two cents each. Corks and labels would 
make them toward three cents each. Count- 
ing the five ounces of honey worth five cents 
(putting the honey at 10 cts. per lb. for such 
small quantities), your dime jar woidd cost 
you eight cents, allowing two cents profit to 
the retailer. One great trouble with honey 
in glass is its candying property; but as a 
great many like it best in a candied state, 
this offsets a part of the objection. Another 
thing: These small jars may be very quickly 
melted by setting them on a thin board laid 
on the stove where it is not very hot. 

HONEY-TUMBLERS. 

A large trade has also sprung up in honey 
put up in jelly-tumblers. These are of two 
sizes, chiefly ; those holding i lb. and 1 lb. 
They are made honey -tight by laying a piece 
of soft paper over the tumbler before the 
tin cover is pressed on, and then tearing off 
the surplus paper. Covering the paper on 
the side next the honey, with the white of 
an egg, makes a hermetically close joint. 
The tumblers cost only three and five cents 
each respectively. On the next page we pre- 
sent you with a handy stand for exposing for 
sale honey put up, invented by Geo. F. Wil- 
liams, of New Philadelphia, Ohio. 





EXTRACTED HONEY 



89 



EXTRACTED HONEY". 





WILLIAMS' STAND FOR SELLING EXTRACT- 
ED HONEY. 

In pleasant weather this stand 
may be placed on the side- 
walk in front of the store, 
and the grocer can be paid a 
commission for simply keep- 
ing the stand full. After he 
has got a trade started, he 
will usually be willing to buy 
the honey for cash, at a rea- 
honey-pail, of sonable price. We herewith 
show a modification of the 
jelly-tumbler, called a glass pail. Of course, 
the top to this must screw on securely, or 
there will be danger of the bail, cover, and 
all, coming off at the wrong time. 

IRON - JACKET SHIPPING - CANS. 

None of the packages heretofore mention- 
ed are suitable for shipping extracted honey, 
without being boxed or crated. We have 
given the matter considerable study, and 
have decided upon what are called the " iron- 
jacket " cans, as shown below, as being most 
desirable for all purposes as a shipping-can. 




We have sent these thousands of miles, and 
have had no report of leakage or damage. 
They are to be recommended in place of bar- 
rels, because there is no danger of their com- 
municating a taint to the honey, as barrels 



and half -barrels are almost always liable to 
do. Five sizes are kept in stock, holding 
from one to ten gallons. Counting 11 lbs. of 
honey to the gallon, these cans hold from 10 
to 100 lbs., and a little over. They are made 
of nice new tin, and tested in regard to leak- 
age, by steam. They are then incased in a 
stout sheet -iron jacket, making them ex- 
tremely durable. 

HONEY-KNIVES. 

Before we can extract the honey, the caps 
of the cells must be sliced off ; and several 
patterns of knives have been desired for this 
purpose, called honey, or uncapping knives. 
It is true, we may throw out the honey be- 
fore the bees have had time to seal it over ; 
but I believe the most of our friends have 
decided in favor of letting the bees keep it 
till they have it thoroughly ripened and 
thick, as we have before remark 3d. The 
knife shown below is one devised by myself, 
and very extensively used the world over. 




THE NOVICE HONEY-KNIFE. 

This knife is almost as good as any for un- 
capping, and it is also very handy indeed for 
cutting honey or combs. The blade is very 
thin, sharpened on both edges, and of the 
very best steel and temper. When it is de- 
sired to cut combs free from the sides of the 
hive, or when the bees have carelessly been 
allowed to build against the cover, this knife 
will spring down straight and close to the 
wood, so as to do a nice job, scraping off ev- 
ery bit of the wax. 

Shortly after my knife was put into the 
market, our veteran friend M. Quinby had 
one made with a curved point, as shown 
below. 




QUINBY HONEY-KNIFE. 

The curve is to enable us to go down into 
cavities and hollows on the combs. While 
Mr. Quinby and many others considered this 
quite an improvement, 1 have not found it 
so convenient as the sharp-rounded point of 
our own knife. For a knife for uncapping 
the cells alone, the Bingham & Hethering- 
ton knife shown on next page is probably 
ahead of any other. 



EXTRACTED HONEY. 



«iii 



EXTRACTED HONEY 




BINGHAM & HETHERINGTON HONEY-KNIFE. 

The cap-catcher shown in the engraving is 
liked by some. It catches the caps and pre- 
vents them from tumbling down in the way. 

The above knives cost from 70 cents to 
SI. 00 each ;~but many of the friends have de- 
vised several good boms-made substitutes, 
among which'is the common mason's trowel, 
which can be purchased at a cost of about 50 
cents ; and recently some Yankee friend has 
suggested that a 10-cent steel garden-trowel 
will do as well as any thing, although it 
doesn't make so wide a cut. Of course, the 
edges are to be ground sharp. 

CNCAPPING-CANS. 

One of the largest honey-producers we 
have, Chas. Dadant, of Hamilton. 111., uses 
and recommends what he calls an uncapping- 
can, which is seen in the cut below : 




DADANT 'S UNCAPPING-CAN. 

This is something like an ordinary ex- 
tractor-can, only it is made in two pieces — 
the upper one slipping into the other. A 
wire-cloth partition, as shown in the cut, 
catches the caps as they fall, and the honey 
drips down, to be drawn off through the gate. 
The very finest of the honey will come from 
this uncapping-can, as it has been all ripened 
and sealed. While shaving the caps off with 
the honey-knives, the combs rest on the tin 
bars, as shown suspended just below the top of 
the can. 



There are many substitutes for uncapping- 
cans. At the present writing, friend W". 8. 
Hart, of New Smyrna, Fla., sends us a sketch 
of one he uses, made of a common cheap 
wooden bowl. A tube is fastened to the 
bottom of the bowl, extending down through 
the table into a honey -can or barrel. A 
wire-cloth screen is put over the top of the 
bowl, to catch the cappings ; and as the bowl 
turns on the tube the comb can easily be 
swung around in any position while shaving 
the caps off. 

BRUSHES FOR GETTING BEES OFF THE 
COMBS. 

Besides the honey-knife, another imple- 
ment is required in extracting ; and of late, 
considerable attention has been given to 
this. It is a brush for brushing bees from 
the combs. Until recently a bunch of as- 
paragus-tops, some green twigs, or even a 
wisp of clover-heads or grass has been used; 
but these soon wear out, or get limp or wilt- 
ed, or worse still, get daubed with honey. 
One or our California friends suggested the 
little brush shown below, which is a dried 
leaf-stalk from a large species of yucca, or 
•'Sentinel of the Desert," as the plant is 
sometimes called. 




YUCCA BRUSH. 

Many thousands of these have been sold 
throughout the United States. The fiber is 
vegetable, and does not irritate the bees as 
hair, feathers, or any animal substance would 
do. By the way, it has been suggested that 
the visits of Bruin have, in ages past, preju- 
diced the bees against any thing approach- 
ing fur. After the yucca brush had had a 
great run, our friend, the late T. J. Cook, 
of Newpoint, Ind., devised a similar brush, 
but made a good deal wider, which we figure 
below. 




COOK'S BEE -BRUSH. 

After the decease of friend Cook, for a 
while the bee fraternity were destitute; but 
another friend, J. S. C. Davis, of Ballstown. 
Ind., gave us another improvement. These 
were made with handles of galvanized wire. 
so that, even if left out in the rain, or drop- 



EXTRACTOR. 



91 



EXTRACTOR. 



ped and stepped on, they sustain no injury. 
If daubed with honey, as they are sure to he- 
come after a while, any of these brushes may 
be quickly washed and dried, and they are 
as good as ever. 




DAVIS IMPROVED BEE-BRUSH. 

As your brush is liable to get lost, I think 
it will pay you to have at least two or three. 
Have one hung up in your extracting-house, 
another hung up on a post in the apiary ; or 
for a large apiary, have them hung up in 
two or more places. Then make every one 
who uses them hang them up, instead of 
laying them down. If you follow this up 
thoroughly, probably at least one of them 
can be found when you are in a hurry. 

EXTRACTOR. The advantages and 
disadvantages of using a honey-extractor in 
the apiary are considered under head of ex- 
tracted honey. That more honey can be ob- 
tained by the use of the machine than by 
having it stored in section boxes in the 
shape of comb honey, all are agreed; but all 
are not agreed as to how much more. If it 
is nicely sealed over as it should be before 
being extracted, I do not think more than 
twice as much will be obtained, on an aver- 
age, although the amount is placed by many 
at a much higher figure. A beginner will 
be more certain of a crop, than if he relies 
upon having the bees work in boxes; he will 
also be much more apt to take away too 
much, and to cause his bees to starve. This 
last is a very disagreeable feature attendant 
upon the use of the implement, especially 
w T here the bee-keeper is prone to carelessness 



and negligence. To secure the best results 
with the extractor, plenty of empty combs 
should be provided, that ample room may be 
given, in case the hives should become full 
before the honey is ripe enough to remove. 
If a second story does not give room suffi- 
cient, I would add a third for a heavy stock T 
during a good yield of honey. 

Full directions for using extractors are 
given with the price-lists that manufacturers 
send out; therefore I will not repeat them 
here. 

HOW TO MAKE AN EXTRACTOR. 

Although it will not usually pay to make 
your own, there are circumstances under 
which it is very desirable to know how. 
In places so remote that the shipping rates 
are very high, it would be well to have some 
bee-keeper of a mechanical turn make them 
to supply those in his own vicinity. As the 
manufacture of implements and supplies is 
getting to be quite a business, the ma- 
chines can probably be manufactured at 
many different points. Whoever does the 
best work will probably get the most orders. 

Experiments have been made, almost with- 
out number, and the general decision now 
seems to be in favor of a machine made en- 
tirely of metal, with every thing stationary 
about it except what must be revolved. The 
momentum of heavy, metal, revolving cans, 
or of honey after it has left the comb, defeats 
the very object we have in view ; and noth- 
ing will so effectually convince one of the 
difference, as an actual trial of the two ma- 
chines side by side. With the light, all-met- 
al machines, the comb is revolved at the 
speed required almost instantly; and as soon 
as the honey is out of the comb, the operator 
is aware of it by the decrease in the weight 
as he holds the crank in his hand ; but 
with the heavy, unwieldy machines, the stop- 
ping and starting take more time than do- 
ing the work. The same objections apply to 
making machines for emptying four combs 
at once. They require to be made much larg- 
er, and are correspondingly heavy and un- 
wieldy. 

A reference to the engraving of the ex- 
tractor with its inside removed will enable 
almost any tin-smith to do the work. The 
gearing had better be purchased from a deal- 
er in supplies; but if you should have many to 
make, it may pay you to have them cast, 
using the sample for a pattern. The shaft 
of the inside part is made by rolling up a tin 
tube, double thickness. This is quickly and 
nicely done with the machine the tinner uses 
to make the bead on the edge of eave-spouts. 



EXTRACTOR. 



EXTRACTOR. 



The frame-work is made of folded strips of 
tin. 

For a Langstroth frame, we make the 
shaft the full length of a 14 x 20 sheet of 
tin. The corner - pieces are made of a strip 
2 inches wide by 14 long, with a seam folded 
on one edge, and a square fold of i on the 
other. The bars that support the wire cloth 
are six in number, including the top and 
bottom ones, and are made by folding one- 
inch strips of tin, three times, so as to make 
a stiff rod of metal. They are 10 inches in 
length, and our revolving frame is 10 inches 
one way, and 11 the other. For greater se- 
curity against sagging, we run a similar rod 
of metal, up and down across the middle of 
these bars, and still another lies flatwise 
across this, to brace the whole, something 
like a truss bridge. This gives a surface 
very stiff, and yet very light. The wire cloth, 
which should be tinned like all the other 
metal work, is made of stiff wire, 5 meshes 



wide, with the edges hemmed by folded 
strips of tin, is put across the bottom, to sup- 
port the frames. Two inches from each end 
it is bent at right angles, and then i inch 
from each end, still again, that it may catch 
securely over the lower bar of the frame. 
The frame is completed by the cross - pieces 
at the top and bottom, to hold the two wire- 
cloth frames at the right distance apart. 
These are strips of heavy tin 11 inches wide 
by 11 inches long. A seam is folded on each 
edge, so that the bars are left only 1 inch 
wide when finished. At each end, a I inch 
is folded square, to catch over the outside of 
the frame where it is soldered. 

Now, to attach this frame to the shaft is a 
matter somewhat important; for if we use 
too much breadth of surface with the arms, 
they will "blow" like a fanning-mill, and we 
shall have a current of air that will carry 
with it a fine spray of honey over the top of 
the can. This is a most grievous fault, for 




INSIDE OF EXTRACTOR. 

to the inch. It may be well to remark here, 
that neither zinc nor galvanized iron should 
ever be used about honey - utensils. The 
acid principle in the honey quickly acts on 
all oxidizable metals; and galvanized iron, 
though bright in appearance, quickly poisons 
the honey, or even pure water, as has been 
proven by experiment. Two sheets of wire 
cloth, 15 inches long by 10 wide, are needed 
for an L. extractor. They are simply laid 
inside against the metal bars and tacked 
with solder. To cover the ragged edges at 
the top and bottom, we fold a strip of light 
tin 10 inches long by 1 inch wide, at a right 
angle, so as to make a square trough, as it 
were; this is soldered on the top rod, so as 
to cover the upper edge of the wire cloth. 
A strip of wire cloth, 15 inches long, and 4 



EXTRACTOR COMPLETE. 

who likes to have honey daubed over his 
clothing? Our first machine was made so 
that the combs revolved only i inch below 
the top of the can, and yet we never had a 
particle of honey thrown over. This frame 
was made very light indeed ; and when heav- 
ier and stronger machines were made for 
sale, we were much puzzled to hear an occa- 
sional complaint that the honey was thrown 
over the top of the can, in a fine spray. I soon 
found by experiment that it was caused by 
the braces being placed flatwise to the line 
of motion. How to make them strong and 
stiff, without catching the air, was the prob- 
lem. We do it nicely by using 12 braces, 
made of heavy tin, with a seam folded as 
just mentioned. The 12 are formed of six 
pieces. The 6 pieces are laid across each 






EXTEACTOE. 93 

other in pairs, forming 3 letter X's. Each 
letter X has a hole punched at the crossing, 
large enough for the shaft to be driven 
through; when it is soldered securely, the 
ends are bent down and attached to the cor- 
ners of the frame as shown in the engraving. 
The lower X also supports the wire cloth 
that the frames rest on, by being tacked with 
solder where it passes it. 

The gearing is attached to this revolving 
frame by driving the small gear - wheel into 
the end of the hollow shaft, and soldering it 
securely. The casting is first/well tinned by 
a soldering-iron, that there may be no slip- 
ping loose. 

MAKING THE CAN. 

There is nothing difficult about this, except 
the bottom of the can. It had been, for a 
long time, quite a problem to get a strong 
stiff bottom, without some kind of a wooden 
support; but I struck on the idea, while try- 
ing to devise some kind of a bottom that 
would let the honey all out— the gate, or fau- 
cet being the lowest part. I will tell you, 
presently, how I didit. The top edge of the 
can must be stiff and rigid; more so than we 
can get it by any kind of a wire or rod. I 
found some very stiff hoops that were made 
for milk-cans, and it is these I would advise. 
They are so made as to give great stiffness, 
with but a small amount of metal. 

We present a view of a cross-section of the 
hoop, the concave side, of course, being in- 
ward. A is the hoop, and B is the tin of 
which the can is formed. The can 
is made of four sheets of 14x20, IX 
tin. For an [L. frame, we need a 
hoop just 17 inches in diameter. 
For large sizes, we use 20 -inch 
hoops. The two sizes mentioned will ac- 
commodate almost any frame used, and we 
therefore furnish gearing for only these two 
sizes. After you have made the body of the 
can, and have your hoop nicely soldered on, 
you are ready for the bottom. 

Lock two of the sheets together, and cut a 
circular piece 18 inches in diameter. From 
one side, cut a wedge-shaped piece, as shown 
in the cut below. 

1A 



EXTEACTOE. 




HOW TO MAKE THE BOTTOM TO THE CAN OF 
THE EXTRACTOR. 

The space, A B, should be about 2 inches in 
width; and, after cutting it out, you are to 
fold down the edges of A B, about i inch. 



Draw these edges toward each other, and 
you will make the bottom concave, as shown 
in Fig. 2. They can be held in this shape 
for the time by a slip of tin temporarily 
tacked with solder across the gap. Turn 
over the edge and put this bottom on the 
can, in the usual way. The opening left is 
for the channel that leads to and holds the 
honey-gate. Cut a piece of tin similar to the 
wedge-shaped piece you took out, but some- 
what larger. Fold this up trough-shaped, as 
shown in Fig. 3, and fit it over the opening. 
We are now ready to solder in the gate, but 
we must have something for our can to stand 
on. This is fixed by a tin hoop, with a heavy 
wire at its lower edge, made just large enough 
to slip closely over the lower part of the can, 
as seen in Fig. 4. This hoop, or band, rather, 
should be about 4 inches wide, and in one 
side you are to punch a round hole, just 
large enough to take in the gate. Solder it 
securely in place, put in the gate, and then 
be sure to try your can by pouring in some 
water to see if it will "hold." We do not 
want any leaking after we commence ex- 
tracting honey. 

Now, in the center, C, on the inside, we 
solder a piece of steel saw - plate; over this 
we put a blank iron nut, with a i-inch hole 
drilled in it. This is to hold the bottom piv- 
ot,which is made of refined Stub's steel, nice- 
ly rounded and polished off on the point. 
As the bearings for the gearing are all cast 
steel, our machine should almost run of itself , 
if every thing is made just right. The steel 
pivot at the bottom is soldered in the end of 
our tin tube, by rolling some thin tin around 
it until it will drive in tight. 

You should never attempt to use an ex- 
tractor, and I might almost say any piece of 
machinery, until you have it securely screw- 
ed down to the box or platform on which it 
is to stand. The screw - holes are made in 
the bottom ring just above the heavy wire 
that rests on the floor. The screws are put 
in a little slanting. It should also be at a 
convenient height for easy work. The ma- 
chine could be made heavy enough to stand 
still from its own weight, it is true, and it 
might be made perched on legs, also, to save 
the trouble of building a box or platform on 
which to stand it; and if you are making 
them for home use, it may be well to do so; 
but if making them to ship to customers, I 
would never think of sending them any thing 
that they could procure at home, thus saving 
heavy shipping expenses. I would say the 
same in regard to making cans large enough 
to hold 100 lbs., or more, of honey, below the 



EXTRACTOR. 



94 



EXTRACTOR. 



revolving frame. When the extractor is be- 1 
ing used, the honey-gate is supposed to be 
open, and utensils can always be supplied to 
hold the honey, much cheaper than to have I 
the extractor thus enlarged. Those I have 
described can be very conveniently worked | 
over the bung of a barrel, or you can have a 
tin can made on purpose to set under the 
honey-gate. 

The gearing for the extractor, including a 
tinned honey-gate, will cost about $2.00; 
the materials and labor for the inside should ' 
not cost to exceed $2..^0 ; seven sheets of tin ! 
for the can would be 70c; a half-day's work 
in the making, $1.25 ; hoop for the top, 50c; 
and perhaps the solder and other items, 25c; 
this would bring the whole cost up to $7.20. i 
Your own time in "bossing" the tinner, and 
the liabilities of making mistakes, and doing 
a bad job on the first one, would probably 
bring the expense up to about the usual sell- i 
ing price; viz., from $7.50 to $9.00. Machines 
for different sized frames are made much in 
the same wa\ : for the American and Gallup 
frames, we can make a short can. only the , 
height of the width of a sheet of tin, instead i 
of the length. ( )f course, these can he made 
at a less cost. Where the frames hang in 
the extractor the same way that they do in 
the hive, no wire cloth support is neede 1 
across the bottom of the comb-basket, unless 
it is preferred for extracting small pieces 
or bits of comb. 




No cover is ever needed over the extractor 
while at work, for it would be greatly in the 
way; but after we are through, or stop only 
temporarily, the machine should be covered 
to keep out dust and insects. The most con- 
venient thing for this purpose is a circular 
piece of cheap cloth, with a rubber cord run 
in the hem. This can be thrown over in an 
instant, and all is secure. When honey is 
coming in abundantly, it may be safe 
to carry the machine, located on a suitable 
platform, around to the hives, especially if 
the apiary is much scattered about. Rut if 
the bees are disposed to rob, all such attempts 
will "come to grief" very quickly. 



EXTRACTING FROM BROKEN PIECES OF 
COMB, OR FROM SEOTTON-BOXES. 

As we always use the I., extractor, we 
have extracted from pieces of comb by set- 
ting them up on the wire cloth at the bottom. 
The smaller, shallow extractors, for Gallup, 
Adair, and American frames, have no such 
attachment; therefore some arrangement is 
really needed for the purpose. At the same 
time, it would be very handy for the tall ex- 
tractors, when any mishap occurs to break a 
comb down, or when we wish to extract from 
heavy pieces of comb, in warm weather. 
Several devices have been described in the 
journals, but none of them suit me so well 
as the one figured below, which was sent me 
by J. I). Slack, of Plaquemine, La. 

He uses it for extracting from section box- 
es also, but I think I should prefer to do this 
in the wide frames that hold them, thus do- 
ing a full set of eight at one time. With 
this machine, only one could be extracted at 
once. 



exthactoi 




PIECES OF COMB. 



EXTRACTOR WITH SPACE FOR HONEY 
LOW REVOLVING-FRAME. 



At C are a pair of hinges, that the machine 
may be opened the more readily to receive a 
heavy, soft comb. The wires, E, are of one 
piece, and are also made to turn that they 
may be hooked into A, when the comb is 
properly in place. The hooks, A, are to 
hook over the top-bar of the inside of the re- 
volving frame of the extractor. 




HflffiHflir ; ' , ' ■ , I'M' "' " 'I ' 

■.i.i-.. '.■■'.» v ',ns ; . i: ..-'i ■■■....'+/■ 



APIARY OF CHAS. H. LAKE, BALTIMORE, MD. 



F. 



FAIRS— #bw> they may be used in the de- 
velopment of the bee and honey industry.— Of 
late, very much indeed lias been accomplish- 
ed by the exhibits of bees, honey, and apiari- 
an implements at State and county fairs. 
Several of the larger societies have had very 
pretty buildings erected on the fair-grounds 
for these displays, and often the bee-keepers 
who meet at such places have very interest- 
ing conventions during the day time or even- 
ing. 

It was my good fortune to attend an exhib- 
it of this kind at Toronto, in the fall of 1883. 
The exhibit of honey in cans and tin pails 
and other receptacles, as well as the fine lots 
of comb honey, was wonderful indeed, and 
filled me with surprise and astonishment, as 
it did thousands of others who were in at- 
tendance. Our friend D. A. Jones, who has 
become justly celebrated, not only for his 
immense crops of honey, but on account of 
introducing the Cyprian and Holy-Land bees, 
was the leading spirit of the occasion. To 
recompense the bee-keepers who made the 
displays, for their time and trouble, as well 
as for standing there day after day and ex- 
plaining to an eager multitude thirsting for 
knowledge, they were permitted to sell their 
honey on the fair-grounds. Many tons were 
disposed of at good prices in this way. 

Bee-keepers, look well to what may be ac- 
complished at your county fairs ; and if those 
near you are too much given to gambling 
schemes and horse-racing, make it your busi- 
ness to interest the boys who go there, in 
learning some wholesome, honest industry. 
Our own State of Ohio has recently erected a 
very pretty building on the fair-grounds at 
Columbus. 

FEEDING AND FEEDERS. As 
a general rule, I would not advise beginners 
to take their honey away, and sell with the 
idea of feeding their stocks up in the fall 
with some substitute for honey; and if a 
person is inclined to be careless and neglect- 
ful he had better never think of feeding 
at all. Leave the ten combs in the lower 



story untouched by the extractor, and you 
will very seldom have reason to feed. 28 If 
you use section boxes in the lower story, 
you had better take them all out in time to 
let the bees fill combs for winter stores, in 
their place, unless you have very heavy sur- 
plus combs laid away, that will contain on 
an average 5 lbs. of sealed honey each; in 
this case, give them 6 of these combs and a 
chaff-cushion division-board on each side of 
them in place of the sections, and you have 
them then in the safest shape for winter 
you possibly can, providing they are in 
a chaff hive (according to my ideas of 
wintering). Now, if we were only sure of 
having the well - filled surplus combs, we 
might skip u feeding" entirely; but, alas ! 
there will come seasons and circumstances 
when we must feed. I have never known a 
season when a colony of Italians with a 
good queen would not get an ample supply 
for winter, and furnish some surplus ; but I 
am told there are such occasionally, and the 
present one (1877) is said to have left many 
n a starving condition in California, right 
in mid-summer. 

Again, where one raises bees and queens 
for sale, he may divide and sub-divide to 
such an extent as to have many colonies 
with bees enough, but with too little food. 
The only remedy in these cases is to feed. 

WHAT TO FEED. 

If I had sealed honey in the combs, I 
should use it for giving the requisite stores 
in preference to sugar, unless I could sell it 
for more, pound for pound, than the sugar 
could be purchased for. If the honey is late 
fall honey, such as buckwheat, goldenrod, 
autumn wild flowers, etc., I should consider 
it just as safe as any other, if well seasoned 
and ripened, unless I had by actual experi- 
ment good reason to think otherwise : 
in such a case I would feed sugar. Quite a 
number of reports have been given that 
seemed to show bees wintered safely on the 
spring honey, or that gathered in the early 



FEEDING AND FEEDERS. 



98 



FEEDING AND FEEDERS. 



part Of the season, when others in the same 
apiary where all this spring honey was ex- 
tracted, and they were confined to the au- 
tumn stores for winter, were badly diseased. 
Whether a chaff packing around them would 
enable them to use such honey with safety 
or not, remains to be shown ; but I have 
much faith that it would, for all the bad 
honey I have ever experimented with could 
be used with perfect safety in warm wea- 
ther. 

Well, supposing we have not the honey in 
frames, what then V If we have extracted 
honey two questions come up ; which is bet- 
ter—sugar syrup, or honey V and which will 
cost the more ? I would unhesitatingly take 
syrup made from granulated sugar, in place 
of the best clover or any other kind of hon- 
ey, if offered at the same price. I say this 
after having fed many barrels of sugar, and 
after having carefully noted the results of 
feeding both sugar and honey. 

In regard to expense: A gallon of water to 
20 lbs. of sugar will make US lbs. of nice 
thick syrup; and as the sugar is now worth 
about 10 cents by the barrel, our syrup will 
cost us about 7 cents per lb. 1 think, if my 
extracted honey were all ready to ship, and 
1 could get 10 cents cash for it, I would sell 
it ami buy the sugar. Perhaps a safe rule 
will be to say, that whenever we can trade a 
pound of honey for a pound of sugar, we 
had better do so. for the difference in favor 
of sugar will certainly pay for all the trouble 
of making itjnto syrup. 

In regard to the cheaper grades of sugar 
than the standard A. I will say that I have 
used the C sugar, without being able to de- 
tect any difference in the results; but as the 
price is but very little different, I rather de- 
cided in my own mind, without any definite 
proof, that the A contained about the same 
amount of pure sugar, for the money, as did 
any of the cheaper grades. I also fed a few 
colonies for winter on the cheapest brown 
sugar, and, somewhat contrary to my expec- 
tations, they wintered tolerably well. I have 
not used brown sugar extensively, because 
in my experiments with candy for feeding, 
I discovered that burnt candy or sugar— car- 
amel— was certain poison to bees when con- 
fined to such stores in cold weather. See 
Candy. As brown sugar frequently owes 
its color and taste to this same caramel, it 
is very unsafe for winter food. 

HOW TO FEED. 

Although the number of feeders described, 
invented, patented, and offered for sale are 
almost without number, I would pass them 



all without notice (and I have pretty thor- 
oughly tried nearly all of them), except the 
simple atmospheric or " pepper-box feeder," 
that has been so often described. A pepper- 
box explains the whole principle, if you fill 
it with water and invert it; and, in fact, you 
may use the cheap tin pepper-boxes for feed- 
ers if you have but few colonies. Fill one 
with honey or syrup, place it in front of 
the hive at nightfall, and you will find it all 
taken into the hive by morning, without a 
single bee or any part of the hive having be- 
come daubed or sticky; those who have 
fussed with feeders know how untidy and 
disagreeable everything soon gets, unless 
great care is taken. 

I would feed outside the hive, because I 
think the bets behave more naturally when 
the food conies in this way, and because, 
by so doing, tin 1 labor of opening and closing 
the hives and disturbing things inside for 
the accommodation of a feeder is avoided; 
also, if we feed during the day time, the 
bees all stay at home, and the honey that 
might otherwise have been gathered is lost. 
1 have several times fed stocks during the 
fall to build them up; and although they 
were induced to take many pounds of honey 
or syrup, they would be in no better condi- 
tion than others that had not been fed at all, 
for they "loafed" and fussed with their 
feeder, while the rest were doing very fail- 
days'' works. Again, I once gave a partic- 
ular colony all the cappings during extract- 
ing time ; the honey they got out of them 
amounted to 3 or 4 lbs. per day, but this was 
only about half as much as we were before 
getting from them, and we soon became sat- 
isfied that the honey in the cappings was 
even worse than thrown away, for it had in- 
duced the bees to stay at home, when they 
would otherwise have gathered ajnuch larg- 
er quantity from the fields. This result 
has followed feeding so many times, that we 
are loth to resort to it, when it can be avoid- 
ed. Feeding sugar, especially the cheap 
sugars, is less liable to disturb their work 
in the fields, than honey, for they will desert 
the sugar as soon as honey is to be obtained, 
even in small quantities. 

The feeders we generally use are one- 
quart fruit-cans with a cover of perforated 
tin ; these cost only 10 cents each, and they 
are pretty sure to be emptied in a single 
night. When placed in front of the hive 
near the entrance they should be slightly 
raised with bits of wood, that the bees may 
have a fair chance at all the holes in the cap 
at once. If by any means the feeding has 



FEEDING AND FEEDERS. 



been delayed until very late, or if you have 
many colonies to feed, and but little time in 
which to do it, you can use a feeder that 
Avill hold enough at one time to give them 
their winter rations. This size has been 
termed a " tea-kettle feeder" on account of 
its size and shape. I have with such a feed- 
er given a colony 2-5 lbs. of syrup in less than 
half a day. These large ones we place in 
the upper story, as they may not be emptied 
in a day or two. If they are set directly on 
the frames, right over the brood, they will 
be emptied soonest. When these feeders 
are first inverted it should be done over a 
pan of the syrup, for a little will run out be- 
fore it gets level and quiet. After inver- 
sion, they may be carried to any part of the 
apiary. 

HOW TO MAKE THE SYRUP. 

After stirring the sugar and water, you 
can boil it if you choose; but I assure you it 
does not do a particle of good, and should 
you burn it a little, it may do a great deal of 
harm. If you have an extractor, pour in 
your sugar, and some boiling water on it, 
then turn briskly, and your syrup will all be 
ready to draw off into the feeders. I have 
fed a barrel of sugar in less than 3 hours, 
and had it all done with, except removing 
the feeders when they were emptied. The 
barrel was broken open in a large tank, and 
the staves and heads were washed with a 
tea-kettle of boiling water. More water 
was poured in, and the whole was stirred 
with a hoe until it was a fair syrup. Large 
feeders were then filled and placed on a 
shelf in the tank, until they had ceased to 
drip. From this they were removed to the 
hives just at dusk, that no robbers might 
interfere. When all were filled, the tank 
was rinsed out with the tea-kettle, and the 
rinsings placed over a hive, in the feeder, 
so that not an ounce of sugar was wasted. 

Cream of tartar, tartaric acid, vinegar, 
and the like, have been used for preventing 
granulation, but I feel sure we do not need 
any thing besides pure water and pure su- 
gar, and I think it makes little difference 
what the proportions are. If the sugar and 
water be boiled together, there is perhaps 
less liability to granulate. We noio do it 
rapidly by means of a steam-pipe let down 
into the syrup. 

FEEDING FAST OK SLOWLY. 

I have not been able to see that it makes 
any material difference whether we feed it 
all at once, or a little at a time for winter- 
ing purposes; only but for brood-rearing it 
is assuredly best to feed a little at a time, say 



99 FEEDING AND FEEDERS. 

a pint every night. I have, during severe 
droughts reared queens, brood, and had 
beautiful comb built, by the latter plan. 

WHEN TO FEED. 

Although colonies have been wintered 
well when fed after cold or freezing weath- 
er, I think much the safer plan is to have it 
all done during warm dry weather, that they 
may have it all ripened and thoroughly 
sealed up. If you have been so careless as 
to have bees that are in need of stores, at 
the beginning of winter, I would advise 
frames of sealed honey if you can get them; 
and if you cannot, use Candy, which see. 
If the candy is covered up with warm chaff 
cushions or. something equivalent, it may 
be fed at any time, although it does not 
seem to be as satisfactory under all circum- 
stances as stores sealed up in their combs. 

In feeding in cool or cold weather, you are 
very apt to uncover the cluster, or leave 
openings that will permit the warmth from 
the cluster to pass off. I have several times 
had colonies die!in the spring after I com- 
menced feeding, and I imagined it was from 
this cause alone. When they first commence 
raising brood in the spring, they need to be 
packed up closely and snugly; making a 
hole in the quilt or cushions above the clus- 
ter, and placing the feeder over this so as to 
close it completely, does very well, but is not, 
after all, as safe as giving the feed from be- 
low : for feeding in early spring, especially 
if the stock is weak, I would prefer the can- 
dy, or well-filled combs of sealed stores. 



Since the above was written we have had 
quite an August'drought, and it has given 
me an opportunity of making a further test 
of the different modes of feeding for the 
purpose of inducing brood-rearing, and of 
keeping colonies from starving. Plenty of 
pollen was to be had from the corn-fields, 
though but little, if any honey. Old stocks 
hung idly a great part of thelday, in and on 
the hives, and nuclei either ceased rearing 
brood entirely, or reared very little. Many 
of the queens stopped laying entirely. At 
this stage, a little feed during the night 
would start the queens laying wonderfully, 
and the fed colony would rush to the fields 
for pollen in a way that demonstrated at 
once that feeding at such a time was a very 
profitable investment, if one wished to build 
up weak stocks and nuclei. A stock that 
had been fed half a teacupful only, would 
go out for pollen an hour earlier than the 
others, and would bring in double the quan- 
tity. A still smaller quantity will set them 



FEEDING AND FEEDERS. 



100 



FEEDING AND FEEDERS. 



to building out foundation most beautifully, 
and I never in my life saw tbe work in the 
hive go on so satisfactorily as it did during 
the hot, dry, dusty days, under the influence 
of a very moderate amount of feeding dur- 
ing the night. I take great pleasure in 
giving you a feeder that I think is, in sever- 
al respects, rather ahead of the former one. 
(let a piece of basswood, pine, or other 
light soft wood, two inches thick by two 
wide, and about a foot long; with a buzz- 
saw set wabbling, plow grooves in it, three 
in number, as shown in the following en- 
graving. 




SIMPLICITY REE-FEEDER. 

We have shown it turned over on one side, 
that you may see the way in which the 
grooves are sawed out, so as to leave two 
thin partitions through the middle. The 
holes from one partition to the other are to 
allow all three of the apartments to fill up 
at once, that the danger of running them 
over when filling may be avoided. I con- 
fess, when I made the first one I was a little 
fearful that the bees would drown in 
them after all; but when 1 saw how they 
clung to the wood as they sipped the honey, 
J had no fear; and after a trial of them for 
several weeks witli all kinds of feed, all the 
way from sweetened water to syrup as thick 
as tar, all kinds of candied honey, sugar and 
water stirred up hastily in all proportions, 
etc.. I have yet to see a single dead bee in a 
feeder. They may be used inside the hive, 
in the upper story, before the entrance, or 
where you choose. 

They are always emptied in a twinkling, 
and with perfect safety to the bees. Where 
we are building up stocks, we set them in 
the hive, close to the division-board. For a 
full colony, Ave set them just before the en- 
trance ; if the hive has blocks and a portico, 
set them across from one entrance-block to 
the other. In this case they may remain 
there as long as you are feeding. All you 
have to do is to go round with your coffee- 
pot of feed just at dusk, and fill them up : 
you can not drown a bee, even if they are 
crowded into the feeder when you pour it 
in. PQW it right on their backs, and all 



over them ; they will like it all the better 
that Avay. For feeding the two - frame nu- 
clei (see Queen-rearing) set the feeder 
on the end of the shelf, in front of the en- 
trance. To get them started, pour a little 
of the feed into the hive ; they will very 
soon " boil out,'' and discover the feed. 
Even a weak nucleus will empty the feeder 
in a very short time— long before morning. 
If you have but a little feeding to do, just 
put some sugar in the trough, wet it with a 
little water, and it is all done, without even 
soiling your hands. 
gray's improvement on the simplicity 

FEEDER. 

Of course, the Simplicity feeder can not be 
placed out of doors during the day time. 
They must either be used inside of the hive, 
or placed at the entrance after the bees are 
done flying at night ; and 'even* then, if the 
night should happen to be] cool, so that the 
bees did not take.it allln,Xfree fight might 
be the result next morning. To remedy 
these defects, a modification of the Simplici- 
ty is made, as shown below. 




GRAY S IMPROVED FEEDER. 

As before, the whole is made from a single 
block of wood, with the exception of cover on 
one end, and a small strip tacked across at 
the other end. A sheet of glass slides in 
grooves under the little board, so as to open 
and close the place for filling, which is seen 
at the left, covered with wire cloth. Bees 
can lie seen feeding through the glass, and it 
is often desirable to see when the feeder is 
empty. 




GLASS-TUMULER FEEDER. 

This is a modification of the Hains feeder. 
It is made from a common jelly or honey 
tumbler with tin top. Punch a two-inch hole 
through the tin top, then solder this tin top 
into a little square tray, like that shown by 



FEEDING AND FEEDERS. 



101 



FEEDING AND FEEDERS. 



the side of the Hains feeder. Fill the tum- 
bler while it is right side up ; put on the cap 
with tray attached ; invert the whole quick- 
ly, and it is ready to set into the hive. 

With all the desirable qualities of these 
feeders, they are cheaper than anything that 
has heretofore come under our notice. The 
size we have mentioned holds about one 
pint, and can be made and sold as low as 5 
cents, or 4 cents by the hundred. 

FEEDING TO PRODUCE COMB HONEY. 

You could feed white sugar so as to pro- 
duce very nice-looking comb honey, but it 
would be sugar syrup in honey-comb, after 
all, as you would find to your sorrow if you 
should attempt to sell it as honey ; and 
furthermore, it is doubtful if you could do 
it without losing money, were such not the 
case. Many are the attempts that have been 
made to produce honey by feeding sugar; 
but all have resulted in failures. Where 
you can purchase nice white extracted hon- 
ey for 10c you may be able to feed it so as 
to make it pay, if you can get 20 or 25c for 
the honey in the comb. Several of our 
neighbors have fed out their extracted hon- 
ey in this way, and they think it can be 
done profitably, with the aid of the founda- 
tion. This should all be done by a few col- 
onies, because they must have quite a quan- 
tity, perhaps 25 lbs., before they are in shape 
to build comb. The feed should then be 
given as rapidly as possible, if we wish to 
get nice white honey ; for the quicker we 
can get our comb honey out of the hive, the 
whiter and nicer will it be. Bees, when fed, 
are to some extent demoralized, and forget 
to be as particular as they usually are, about 
being neat and tidy. Sometimes they will 
scamper over the white honey with dirty 
feet, like a lot of children who have been 
fed sweetmeats to an injudicious extent, 
and this we wish to avoid. I am just 
now making some experiments in this di- 
rection, and have found that a common 
milk-pan, placed in a third story on a Sim- 
plicity hive, answers the purpose excellent- 
ly. The first story contains the brood- 
combs; the second, the section boxes sup- 
plied with foundation as usual, while the 
third contains nothing but the pan of syrup. 
The plan of preventing the bees from drown- 
ing is very simple ; a sheet of cheese-cloth 
is spread over the pan, before pouring the 
honey into it. I have had but very few bees 
drowned in this manner, but it is not as 
clean and simple as the wood feeder; and as 
the cloth may get displaced, is not as sure 
of success ; the most awkward or inexperi- 



enced person caryhardly make a mistake or 
have a mishap with the former, and it is 
very desirable indeed to have implements 
for bee culture which possess such quali- 
ties. 

For the purpose of more accurately test- 
| ing the exact amount of loss incurred in 
I feeding extracted honey, in order to get it 
into comb honey in the sections, I have 
j had a platform scale made with a dial, that 
the weight of the hive and all the apparatus 
may be seen at a glance. A Simplicity hive, 
3-story, with section boxes in the second 
story, was placed thereon; and when the 
combs in the sections were partly filled, the 
colony was fed with the milk -pan, as men- 
tioned above, about 50 lbs. I then watched, 
with great interest, the hand on the dial, to 
see how many pounds they lost in weight, 
while the combs were being capped over. 
To my great surprise, I found that the hon- 
ey weighed just about as much in the combs 
as it did in the pan ; even after the combs 
were all nicely capped over, there had been 
a loss of only about one pound in ten, of the 
honey fed. As the extracted honey was 
: bought of a neighbor for 10 cts., and the 
! filled sections were readily sold for 25 cts., 
! the investment was a paying one, without 
question. 

There is one point that should not be lost 
sight of, however ; that is, before the honey 
will be stored in sections, the brood-combs 
will be filled to repletion, and a large amount 
of brood will be started. Perhaps 25 lbs. 
will be used in this way before they will 
commence to store in the sections, in real 
earnest. On this account the brood-apart- 
ment should be contracted, and all combs 
removed except those actually needed for 
the brood. A neighbor now extracts suffi- 
cient honey to feed in the fall, for the pur- 
pose of getting all his unfinished sections 
filled, that he may not have such a quantity 
of dead capital in hand over winter, and no 
unfilled sections to be taken off and cared 
for until another season. This is quite an 
item, as we often have, in our apiary, sever- 
al thousand partly filled sections to keep 
over, and a great many will be almost full 
enough to be marketable. But few colonies 
should be chosen to do this work, and they 
should be gentle to handle, as a matter of 
convenience to the one who does the work. 29 

LIABILITY OF EXTRACTED HONEY TO CAN- 
DY IN THE CELLS, AVHEN FED BACK TO 
THE BEES. 

If candied honey is to be fed, of course it 
must be melted ; and it is a rather unpleas- 
7 



FEEDING AND FEEDERS. 



102 



FERTILE WORKERS. 



ant fact, that honey which has been once 
candied is very apt to candy again, even aft- 
er the bees have sealed it up in the sections. 
At least, such has been the result with hon- 
ey fed in the cool fall weather, and such sec- 
tions have been slow of sale, on account of 
the sealed candied honey. 

the ha ins feeder; how to make it. 

These may be made of 
any size, but the one sent 
me for a sample was 
made of a piece of tin 
about 24x4|. Roll it up 
and solder the edges, so 
as to make a little cup. 
The bottom is just a 
round piece of tin, laid 
on and soldered. This' 
cup is to be inverted in a hains feeder. 
square tin box as shown in the cut. It is 
soldered to each of the four sides, so as to 
be about i of an inch from the bottom, or so 
that no bee can crawl inside. To fill it, dip 
it in the syrup while on its side, and raise it 
out, in the position shown in the cut. The 
bees can take every drop out, but they can 
not possihly get daubed. It can be set in 
the hive, at the entrance, or anywhere you 
wish. Pint feeders can easily be made for 
five cents. 

Below we give an engraving of the device 
to be fastened on a quart fruit-jar. 




B U=-- 


i&m 


r?Bi; . ;,, ; , '■"?WJk 




IIAINS FEEDER FOR A FRUIT-JAR. 

The jar may be tilled level full before the 
cover is put on, and it is then to be inverted 
quickly, in the same manner ;:s the pepper 
box feeders. The advantage it lias over the 
latter is that it feeds more rapidly, the 
places of exit being larger, and the holes 
never get stopped up and need punching out. 

For queen-rearing, building out founda- 
tion, or building up colonies, the feeder 
should be so made as to feed not over a 
pound or two a day. With a weak colony, 
perhaps not even so much as that should be 
fed at once. 

CAUTION IN REGARD TO FEEDING. 

Before closing, I would most earnestly 
caution the inexperienced to beware of get- 
ting the bees robbing. I have advised feed- 



I ing only in the night time, to avoid danger; 
for attempting to feed in the middle of the 
j day will sometimes result in the robbing 
and destruction of strong colonies. Where 
j food comes in such quantities, and in such 
an unnatural way, they seem to forget to 
! post sentinels as usual; and before they have 
time to recover, bees will pour in from all 
the hives in the apiary. I do not know who 
is to be pitied most at such a time, the bees, 
their helpless owner, or the innocent neigh- 
bors and passers-by. Sometimes, all that can 
be done is to let your colony slide, and wish 
for it to get dark that (he greedy "elves" 
may be obliged to go home. Now when you 
commence feeding, remember that my last 
words on the matter were," Look out !" 
For open - air feeding, see Water for 
: Bees.* 

, FERTILE WORKERS These queer 

inmates, or rather occasional inmates, of the 

j hive, are worker - bees that lay eggs. Aye, 

and the eggs they lay, hatch too; but they 

hatch only drones, and never worker-bees. 

The drones are rather smaller than the drones 

produced by a queen, but they are neverthe- 

I less drones, in every respect, so far as we 

j can discover. It may be well to remark 

j that ordinary worker-bees are not neuters, 

i as they are sometimes called: they are con- 

, sidered undeveloped females. Microscopic 

examination shows the undeveloped germ 

of nearly every organ found in the queen, 

and these organs may become, at any time, 

sufficiently developed to allow the bee to lay 

eggs, but never to allow of fertilization by 

meeting the drone as the queen does. 

CAUPE OF FERTILE WORKERS. 

it has been over and over again suggested, 
I that bees capable of this egg - laying duty 
are those reared in the vicinity of queen 
cells, and that by some means they have re- 
ceived a small portion of the royal jelly, 
necessary to their development as bee-moth- 
ers. This theory has, I believe, been entire- 
ly disproven by many experiments; and it is 
now pretty generally conceded that fertile 
workers may make their appearance in any 
colony or nucleus that has been for some 
days queenless, and without the means of 
rearing a queen. Not only may one bee take 



*Junc, 1882.— We have just had a cold, backward, 
and wet spring-, and at this date, June 10, we have 
hail no honey from either locust or clover. To keep 
over 300 colonies from starving', we have fed per- 
haps a ton of soft magle sugar, by just laying it on 
ton of the frames, without any feeder at all. As tlie 
bees fly freely every day, we have fed dark and even 
burnt sugar without harm. Unless this feed was 
kept up, we found brood-rearing- would cease inva- 
riably; of course, this, at this season, would have 
been at a great loss. 



FERTILE WORKERS. 



upon herself these duties, but there may be 
many of them ; and wherever the bee-keep- 
er has been so careless as to leave his bees 
destitute of either brood or queen, for ten 
days or two weeks, you may be pretty sure he 
will find evidences of their presence, in the 
shape of eggs scattered about promiscuously; 
sometimes one, but oftener half a dozen in a 
single cell. If the matter has been going on 
for some time, you will see now and then 
a drone-larva, and sometimes two or three 
crowding each other in their single cell; some- 
times they start queen-cells over this drone 
larva: the poor motherless orphans, seeming 
to feel that something is wrong, are disposed, 
like a drowning man, to catch at any straw. 

HOW TO GET RID OF FERTILE WORKER? . 

I feel very much like saying again, that 
prevention is better than cure. If a colony, 
from any cause, becomes queenless, be sure 
they have unsealed brood of the proper age 
to raise another; and when this one is raised, 
be sure that she becomes fertile. It can nev- 
er do any harm to give a queenless colony 
eggs and brood, and it may be the saving of 
it. But suppose you have been so careless 
as to allow a colony to become queenless, 
and get weak, what are you to do? If you 
attempt to give them a queen, and a fertile 
worker is present, she will be pretty sure to 
get stung; it is, in fact, often almost impossi- 
ble to get them to accept even a queen - cell. 
The poor fellows get into a habit of accept- 
ing one of the egg-laying workers as a queen, 
and they will have none other, until she is 
removed; yet you can not find her, for she is 
just like any other bee; you may get hold of 
her, possibly, by carefully noticing the way 
in which the other bees deport themselves 
toward her, or you may catch her in the act 
of egg - laying ; but even this often fails, 
for there may be several such in the hive at 
once. You may give them a small strip of 
comb containing eggs and brood, but they 
will seldom start a good queen-cell, if they 
start any at all ; for, in the majority of cases, 
a colony having fertile workers seems per- 
fectly demoralized, so far as getting them in- 
to regular work is concerned. 

My friends, you have allowed them to get 
into this condition, by being negligent in 
supplying brood when they were on the verge 
of ruin for the want of a single egg or young 
larva, and the remedy now is to give them 
afresh invoice of bees, brood, and combs from 
some other hive ; if you wish to make a sure 
thing, give them at least three good combs 
of brood and bees. This is almost start- 
ing anew colony, but it is the cheapest way, 



103 FIGWORT. 

when they get so they will not receive a queen. 
If the stock has become very weak, it may 
be bestto unite them with some other colony, 
for it'certainly^does not pay to have them 
killing queens, and tearing down queen-sells. 

If the fertile workers are discovered when 
they first make their appearance, before 
you see any of the drone - larvae scattered 
about, they will often accept a queen-cell, or 
a fertile queen, without difficulty. I have 
before advised giving all colonies or nuclei, 
some eggs and brood just before the young 
queen is old enough to take her flight: when 
this is done, there can be but little chance of 
fertile workers, for they will always have the 
means of rearing another queen, if their own 
is lost in taking her flight. Sometimes a 
fertile worker may be disposed of by mov- 
ing the combs into an empty hive, placed at 
a little distance from the other; the bees will 
nearly all go into their old hive, but the queen, 
as she thinks herself to be, will remain on 
the combs. The returning bees will then ac- 
cept a queen or queen-cell. After all is right 
the combs may be returned, and the fertile 
worker will be— well, I do not know just 
what does become of her, but I suspect she 
either attends to her legitimate business, or 
gets killed. 

See that every hive contains, at all times, 
during the spring and summer months at 
least, brood suitable for rearing a queen, and 
you will never see a fertile^worker. 

HOW TO DETECT THE PRESENCE OF FER- 
TILE WORKERS. 

If you do not find any queen, and see eggs 
scattered around promiscuously, some in 
drone and some in worker cells, some attach- 
ed to the side of the cell, instead of the cen- 
ter of the bottom, where the queen lays 
them, several in one cell, and none in the 
next,"yoifmay be pretty sure you have a fer- 
tile worker. Still later, you will see the 
worker-brood capped with the high convex 
cappings, indicating clearly that the brood 
will never hatch out worker-bees. Finding 
two or more eggs in a cell is never conclu- 
sive, for the queen often deposits them in a 
feeble colony where there are not bees 
enough to cover the brood. The eggs depos- 
ited by a fertile queen are in regular order, 
as one would plant a field of corn; but those 
from fertile workers, and usually from drone- 
laying queens, are irregularly scattered 
about. 

FIG-WORT (Scrofularia Nodosa). This 
plant is variously known as Square-Stalk, 
Ileal- All, Carpenter "s-Square, Rattle-Weed, 
etc., the name indicating some of its peculi- 



FIGWORT. 



101 



FIGWORT. 



unties, or real or supposed valuable medical 
properties. Much has recently been said in 
regard to it. under the name of the Simpson 
Honey-Plant. J. A. Simpson, of Alexis, Ills., 
having first called attention to it. 




THE SIMPSON HONEY-PLANT. 

The engraving presented will give a fair 
idea of it, and will enable any one to 
distinguish.it at once, if it grows in his lo- 
cality. The pretty little ball-shaped flower, 
with a lip somewhat like the Pitcher - plant, 
is usually found filled with honey, unless the 
bees are so numerous as to prevent its accu- 
mulation. This honey is, of course, thin, like 
that from clover or other plants, when first 
gathered, and is in, fact, rather sweetened 
water; but still it is crude honey, and the 
plant promises to furnish a larger quantity 
than any thing else I have met with. We 
have had one report from a single plant un- 
der cultivation, and, as might be expected, 
the quantity of honey yielded was very much 
increased, and the plant grew to a great 
height, continuing to bloom and yield honey 
for full four months. The little flower, when 
examined closely, is found to be very beau- 
tiful. The following is Mr, Simpson's de- 
scription of the plant ; 



It is a large coarse grower from 4 to 8 feet in 
height, "coarse leaf, and a branching top covered with 
innumerable little balls about tht size of No. 1 shot. 
When in bloom there is just one little flower-leaf on 
each ball, which is dark purple, or violet, at the outer 
point, and lighter as it approaches the seed-ball. The 
ball has an opening in it at the base of the leaf, and 
is hul low. It is seldom seen in the forenoon 
without honey shining in it. Take a branch off and 
turn it down with a sharp shake, and the honey will 
fall in drops. It commences to bloom about the 15th 
of July, and remains until frost. Bees frequent it 
from morning till night. The honey is a little dark, 
iiul of very good quality. I think it would be best 
lo sow in seed-bed, and transplant. 

It grows in its natural state among brush- 
heaps, in fence-corners, and amid hedges, to 
the height of from 3 to G feet. The seed is 
easily gathered in Sept. and Oct. As they 
vary much in size, it is likely that we could 
produce a variety witli much larger balls, 
by cultivation, and by a careful selection of 
the seeds. In doing this we should be care- 
ful to select also such as produce much honey, 
and, if possible, much good honey. Bees, and 
plants too, are like wax in our hands, if Ave 
go to work understandingly. 

It is now December, 1S79, and I have had 
the plants under cultivation during the past 
season. The following in regard to them is 
taken from the Aug. and Sept. Gleanings: 

SIMPSON'S HONEY-PLANT. 

In the spring I purchased about 200 plants 
of friend Simpson, and planted them on our 
honey-farm, setting them about as far apart 
I as corn. Somewhat to my surprise, they are 
now, July 8th, commencing to bloom; and, 
sure enough, every little pitcher-shaped blos- 
som has a shining drop of nectar in it. This 
nectar is very fair honey, although it has a 
sort of weedy flavor, which, I presume, the 
bees will readily remove. The amount of 
honey is what astonishes me. One of these 
little flowers contains, I should say, as much 
as a hundred basswood-blossoms. At pres- 
ent I know of no other plant that promises 
so well for cultivation for honey alone. A 
single plant in the garden, for curiosity, if 
nothing more, I think, would be well worth 
the trouble to every bee-keeper. 

IIOAV BEES "MAKE" HONEY. 

Four o'clock P.M., August 19, 1879.— The 
Simpson honey-plants are at the back part of 
the honey-farm, and, as it gives me a pretty 
fair walk, I usually go over there when tired 
of writing. Well, I have just been over, and 
the very great numbers of bees on so few 
plants aroused my curiosity; so, watch in 
hand (I borroiced the watch), I counted the 
number of bees that visited a certain flower 
in a certain length of time. To my surprise, 



FIGWORT. 



105 



FOUL BROOD. 



they averaged just about a bee a miuute. 
The flower might not be visited for two min- 
utes, and then, again, it would be visited 
twice in one minute. I very soon dis- 
covered that the bees that came twice in a 
minute made much shorter stays than when 
an interval of two minutes elapsed. Was it 
possible that enough honey could collect in 
that tiny flower to make it profitable for the 
bees to visit it all day long, from daylight 
until dark V If so, I ought to be able to see 
it by looking sharply. I found a flower, in 
the right position to receive the direct rays 
of the sun, and, just after a bee had licked it 
out clean, I watched the nectaries to see how 
soon any more honey was visible. To my 
great astonishment, in just three-fourths of 
a minute I saw a little shining globule of 
honey begin to push its way up, right where 
the bee had licked it off. I watched it most 
intently— no mistake at all— this little glob- 
ule was enlarging before my very eyes, and, 
before two minutes were up, it had spread 
over, like a little silver mirror, and run along 
the side of the pitcher-shaped petal of the 
flower. A bee now became anxious to push 
his way in, and I let him lick it out, and then 
saw the process enacted over and over again. 
To be sure that I was not mistaken, I called 
a friend, and he, too, saw the little " tab- 
leau " enacted over and over again. 

Under Water for Bees I speak of a 
way the bees seemed to have of reducing 
thin, watery honey to the proper consisten- 
cy. Well, I secured a position where the 
bees would come between myself and the 
sun, and watched to see how many bees went 
toward the apiary loaded. To my surprise, 
I saw one and then another, while on the 
wing, humming from one flower to another, 
discharge this same watery fluid, and, when 
my eye had become accustomed to it, I saw 
all the bees at work expelling the water in 
this way, while on the wing. This, then, is 
the process by which they make clear, crys- 
tal honey from the sweetened water, as it 
were, that is exuding so constantly into the 
nectaries of these little flowers. 30 

June, 18S4. — This plant has now been 
grown by the acre, and gives great promise. 
Plants raised in a hot - bed or cold frame 
will blossom the same season, and give quite 
a crop of honey during Aug., Sept., and oft- 
en in Oct. I should think one acre would 
support ten colonies nicely. The plants are 
as easily raised and transplanted as cabbage 
plants, when you get used to them. See 
Spider Plant and Introduction. 

May, 1884.— We can now report, after hav- 



ing raised Figwort by the acre. On deep, 
rich soil, the plants will blossom and bear 
considerable honey for three or perhaps. f cm- 
years ; but like strawberries and other small 
fruits, they will then begin to run down, and 
new plantations must be made. Unless the 
soil is rich and deep, the secretion of nectar 
will be meager. At present I do not believe 
it will pay to raise any plant for honey alone, 
and I am inclined to think our honey-farms 
will have to embrace, mostly, alsike, buck- 
wheat, rape, including, perhaps, the shock-, 
pea of the South, and such other plants as 
will pay for the crop they yield, aside from 
the honey. See Artificial Pasturage. 

FOUZj BROOD. I know of nothing in 
bee culture so much to be feared as foul 
brood ; and I believe it is pretty generally 
agreed that all other bee diseases together, 
and we might almost say all other draw- 
backs, are as nothing compared to it. It 
is not a disease of the bees, but of tl e scaled 
brood. The symptoms are a dwindling down 
of the colony, because the brood fails to 
hatch; and when the capping of the sealed 
brood is examined, it is found to be sunken, 
instead of slightly convex, as with healthy 
brood. A little later, the caps are found to 
have a minute hole in the center, as if a pin 
bad been pricked through it. It is quite 
likely that the bees bite these holes through, 
with a purpose of cleaning out the cells as 
they do ordinary chilled brood; but becom- 
ing disgusted with the sickening sight and 
smell, they abandon the task in despair. If 
you take a pin or the point of a knife, and 
move the matter out of such a cell, you will 
perceive a strange sickening smell, which is 
sometimes perceived in simply passing by 
the hives, when the malady has assumed a 
very dangerous form. The worst feature of 
the business seems to be, that the disease is 
communicated to other stocks by simply 
carrying honey from an infected hive. This 
makes sad havoc among bee-keepers who 
are inclined to be negligent, and various 
remedies have been given for the malady, 
many of which are claimed to be perfectly 
successful; but as the years pass by, one aft- 
er another of them seems to have been 
dropped, and the apiarist has been obliged 
to feel the truth of the old adage, that 
prevention is better than cure. Many who 
have had a trial of its ravages, among 
whom are some of our best bee-keepers, ad- 
vise destroying both bees and hive, by fire 
or burying, and commencing anew with 
healthy colonies. This remedy is, I believe, 
sure ; and even if the disease should reap- 



FOUL BROOD. 



106 



FOUL BROOD. 



pear, by promptly destroying all diseased 
brood, tbe very minute it is discovered in 
the hives, it seems finally to become totally 
eradicated. Where the disease prevails, 
there should be the utmost diligence exer- 
cised in guarding against sending it to other 
localities, either by selling honey, bees, or 
queens. 

Microscopic investigation has revealed the 
fact, that foul brood is a species of minute 
fungus, which, when once started growing, 
increases with astonishing rapidity, and on- 
ly ceases to extend when the supply of ma- 
terial that it feeds on gives out, or the tem- 
perature is either raised or lowered to such 
a point that the vegetation is killed. It is 
on this account that honey from diseased 
hives is rendered perfectly Avholesome for 
feeding bees by being scalded, as this is 
fatal to the seeds of all such microscopic 
vegetation. As severe freezing produces 
the same result, we may suppose that hives 
that have contained foul - broody stocks, 
would be rendered safe by being exposed 
to severe winter weather, without bees in 
them. Great care should be exercised in 
this respect, however, and perhaps it will be 
safest, all things considered, to burn up all 
hives that have ever contained the infection. 
The name of the microscopic plant is Cryp- 
tococcus Alveario ; you know we always feel 
a great deal better, to know just what a 
thing is. I have never possessed a colony 
having the disease; but pieces of comb con- 
taining the diseased brood have been sent 
me several times, and I have examined 
hives in the State of Michigan that were 
slightly affected, and feel somewhat ac- 
quainted with the disease. I do not know 
that it now exists in the State of Ohio, un- 
less it is on Kelley's Island, in Lake Erie ; it 
was brought there by a simple piece of 
comb, several years ago, and has existed 
there ever since. 

REMEDIES. 

I believe the most successful remedy, all 
things considered, has been in shaking the 
bees from their combs, putting them into a 
new hive without combs, and leaving them 
confined to it until they have consumed 
every bit of honey in their honey - sacs, 
which will take from 24 to 48 hours. They 
must, in fact, be almost starved to death. 
After this they can be fed, and allowed to 
build comb; and when the queen lays in this 
new comb, the brood will usually be found 
healthy and natural. 31 If it should show dis- 
eased cells, go through the same operation 
again, being sure that other bees do not, by 



any means, get a single taste of the honey 
from the infected hive, and you will be pret- 
ty sure to find them all right. 

Much has been said of late years, of sal- 
icylic acid ; and our German neighbors 
across the water, who gave us this discovery 
with many others, claim to have been per- 
fectly successful, as well as quite a number 
who have tried it in our own country. The 
acid is used in solution, and, even if quite 
w r eak, it seems to have the property of kill- 
ing the germs of the disease, wherever it 
touches. To make a sure thing of it, it 
seems that every diseased cell should have 
its cap opened, and some of the solution 
sprayed into it ; but quite a number report 
having succeeded by simply spraying the 
combs. Mr. Muth, of Cincinnati, O., recom- 
mends using borax with the salicylic acid ; 
about i of an oz. of each is dissolved in a 
pint of pure soft water. With this, he has 
been perfectly successful in ridding his api- 
ary of it by a single application. As some 
of our English correspondents failed, using 
the most thorough measures with the acid, 
I am inclined to think there are several 
phases of the disease, although I have no 
doubt at all but that it will yield, like al- 
most every thing else, to thorough and faith- 
ful treatment. If there are many diseased 
stocks, it is a saving of time to put all the 
combs having infected brood in them, into 
a single large hive, without any queen. All 
brood that does not hatch out, may be then 
treated without having far to go, or many 
hives to look after ; and as no more brood is 
reared, the disease can not go further. Our 
German friends recommend giving a weak 
solution of the acid as a feed to the bees. 
This may be a good idea; but as I am rather 
opposed to doctoring either bees or human 
beings with drugs, to any great extent, I 
hope you will pardon me if I am a little in- 
credulous in regard to the propriety of such 
measures. 

For spraying the bees and combs, an atom- 
izer, or spray-diffuser, kept by druggists, is 
a saving of time and labor. Those used with 
a rubber ball are handiest. 

CAUSE OF THE DISEASE. 

Many reasons have been given for the ap- 
pearance of foul brood, and it has been 
sometimes claimed that the disease might 
be generated by the decomposition of con- 
siderable quantities of chilled brood, if left 
in the hive. I can not but think that this is 
a mistake, and I also think that a great 
many cases are called foul brood that are 
nothing like it, The real virulent foul brood 



FRUIT-BLOSSOMS. 



107 



FRUIT-BLOSSOMS. 



does not usually yield without pretty severe 
treatment : and it is claimed by some, that 
the worst type of the disease can be erad- 
icated only by a total destruction of the 
hives, combs, and bees. Very likely there 
are several types of the disease, and it may 
be that the milder forms yield without much 
trouble ; but if we admit it to be a fungoid 
growth, as the best authorities tell us, I do 
not know how it can originate without the 
germs or seed being brought by some means, 
from some locality where it prevails, like 
smallpox, and other diseases of like nature. 
The theory of spontaneous generation of 
either plant or animal life has for ages, over 
and over again, fallen to the ground, when 
the experiments were made with sufficient 
care ; therefore I think we may feel sure it 
will never come into our vicinity, unless it 
is brought in. Some parts of York State, 
Michigan, Wisconsin, and some other States, 
have been affected with it so many years, 
that it is liable to break out at almost any 
time, and it may be a hard matter many 
times to decide whence it"comes ; but if we 
are prompt, destroying or cleansing all dis- 
eased cells the very moment we discover 
them, I think we need have little fear or 
trouble. It is quite likely that the evils of 
this malady, like the moth troubles, are 
greatly exaggerated by careless and shift- 
less bee - keepers. Box - hive bee - keepers, 
even now, will tell the most doleful stories 
of how the moth has ruined all their hopes 
and apiaries, while one who is at home with 
bees knows that the owner isjnuch more at 
fault than the poor, much-abused miller. 

FRUIT BLOSSOMS. Although the 
honey obtained from this source is not equal, 
either in quality or quantity, to that from 
clover, basswood, and some other sources, 
yet coming, as it does, just when the bees 
have, usually, nearly exhausted their old 
stores, it is a crop of great moment to the 
apiarist. 32 I do not know of a prettier sight 
to the bee-keeper, than the yellow - banded 
Italians at work on fruit - blossoms, nor a 
pleasanter sound than their merry hum of 
rejoicing. One would suppose the honey 
from choice early cherry-trees must be un- 
usually fine; but I believe those who have 
tried it,~all_agree~that it is any thing but^de- 
licious. It seems to have a strong rank 
taste, much resembling the taste noticeable 
in chewing cherry - tree bark, or the buds. 
The honey from apple - bloom is much the 
same. It is excellent for starting brood- 
rearing, but it is of little or no value for 
table use. I once extracted about 10 lbs, of 



honey from fruit - blossoms, by putting two 
fair colonies together early in] the spring, 
thus giving about the working force of a col- 
ony in June. 

Although it will not be advisable to try to 
get surplus honey from the fruit-bloom, it is 
sometimes an excellent idea to put a frame 
or two of sections in the lower story, that 
they may get the fdn. nicely built out ready 
for the clover season. If they should store 
some of the dark honey in the sections, it 
will all be removed, in all probability, during 
the interval between the - fruit bloom and 
clover. 

July, 1883. — The above statement in regard 
I to apple-tree honey has appeared in print un- 
: challenged, so far as I recollect, since the 
ABC book was first published, in 1877. 
| During the present spring, however, several 
j have reported apple-tree honey as being fully 
equal to any ; and friend Sanford, of Union- 
ville, Ct., has taken the trouble to send me a 
| tumbler of nice honey from this source, which 
all declare, who have tasted it, to be equal to 
any honey furnished from any source. The 
flavor is distinctly apple-bloom ; that is, one 
who had ever chewed apple-blossoms would 
have no difficulty in deciding at once as to its 
source. The flavor is not only beautiful, but 
the honey is very thick and remarkably clear. 
Whether this result is peculiar to this season, 
or whether the honey that I extracted and 
bottled in former years was mixed with hon- 
ey from the dandelion, hickory, or other 
sources, I am unable now to say ; but this I 
do know, that apple-tree honey is, at least 
sometimes, equal to any. 

DO BEES INJURE THE FRUIT, BY TAKING 
THE HONEY FROM THE BLOSSOMS? 

This is an idea that has been advanced 
over and over again, and will probably be 
many times more, by those who take only a 
casual view. If I am not mistaken, the 
matter was carried so far in a town in Mass., 
that an ordinance was passed obliging a bee- 
keeper to remove his bees to another local- 
ity. After a year or two had passed, the 
fruit-growers decided that they would rather 
have the bees brought back, because so little 
fruit was set on the trees, in proportion to 
the amount of blossoms appearing. As it 
was a fruit-growing district, it was a matter 
of considerable moment, and the bees were 
brought back. Of course, with the bees, 
came fruit in abundance, for many kinds of 
fruit absolutely depend on the agency of 
bees in fertilizing the flowers, to enable 
them to produce fruit at all. It seems that 
the small drop of honey which nature has 



FKUIT-BLOSSOMS. 



108 



FKUIT-BLOSSOMS. 



placed in the flower is for the express pur- 
pose of attracting bees and other insects, 
that the blossoms may be surely and proper- 
ly fertilized. It has been stated, that unless 
we have a few hours of sunshine when early 
cherries are in bloom, we shall have no cher- 
ries at all ; and occasionally we have a sea- 
son when cold rain storms so prevent the 
bees from getting out, that not a cherry is 
produced. 

It is well worth while, I believe, for an 
apiarist to locate near extensive orchards, 
even if he should not think of planting fruit- 
trees, with the especial end in view, of hav- 
ing his bees benefited thereby. A large 
yield of honey from fruit-bloom is pretty 
sure to lay the foundation of a good honey 
season. 

The very best time to transfer bees is 
when the honey just begins to come in from 
this source, for they are then all busy and 
happy, and but little honey is in the way to 
run down and hinder the work. I have look- 
ed at populous colonies during fruit- bloom, 



that had not a dozen cells full of honey in 
the hive, in the morning, but by night the 
hive would seem very well supplied; the 
next day would show the same aspect of af- 
fairs, indicating how rapidly they consume 
stores, when rearing brood largely. Should 
a stormy day intervene, stocks in this con- 
dition will be injured very much, if they do 
not starve, by being obliged to put the un- 
sealed brood on such short allowance. A 
friend once came to me, in May, to have me 
come and take a look at his bees ; he said 
they were sick. It was a box hive; and as I 
turned it over, I agreed with him that they 
were sick, and no mistake. I called for a 
bowl of sugar; and after stirring in some 
water, I sprinkled it all over the bees and 
combs. In less than an hour they were all 
perfectly well, and he paid quite a tribute to 
my skill in compounding medicines for sick 
bees. My friends, be sure that your bees 
do not get "sick" during fruit-blossoming 
time, nor afterward either. 




APIARY OF W. G. PHELPS, GALENA, MD. 




HfeSf 






&Ma 



COGSWELL'S APIARY, LOS ANGELOS CO., CALIFORNIA. 



G. 



GILL-OVER-THE-GROUND. (Nepata 
Glechoma.) Some 40 or 50 years ago, when 
this county was mostly woods, my father 
and mother commenced life on a little farm 
near where I am now living. Woman like, 
my mother wanted some flowers around the 
log house that they called home; and going to 
a neighbor's a few miles away, she took up 
various roots and plants. It was just about 
the time, or a little before fruit-trees bloom, 
and amid the shrubbery, she found a little 
blue flower, growing on a vine. As blue has 
always been my favorite color, I can readily 
excuse her for wanting to take home a root 
of this humble-looking little vine. The vine 
grew and throve " mightily;" so much so, 
that when my father moved back to the old 




GILL-OVER-THE-GROUND. 

farm after a dozen years' absence, he found 
my mother's blue flower all over, every- 
where, and giving fair promise of being able 
to choke all the grass and almost everything 
else out entirely. When " we boys " com- 
menced trying to make a garden, we scold- 
ed so about this "pesky weed" that my fath- 
er said it must be thoroughly "dug out," be- 



fore it went any further. After some feeble 
and ineffectual attempts at getting it out, 
he finally offered a younger brother a fine 
colt if he would rid the farm of the weed. I 
do not know how hard he tried, but 1 believe 
he never got the colt. 

It transpired in later years, that this plant 
yielded a great deal of honey; and in some 
localities favorable to its growth, such as 
the beds of streams where there is plenty of 
rich vegetable mold, it has furnished so 
much honey that it has been extracted in 
considerable quantities. Coming in, as it 
does, between fruit - blossoms and clover, I 
think it might well be given a place on our 
honey-farm, even if it does hold so tena- 
ciously to the soil when it once gets a start. 
That you all may recognize it, I give you a 
cut of roots, branches, leaves, and flower. 

The honey is rather dark, and I believe a 
little strong; but if it is allowed to become 
perfectly ripened, I think it will pass very 
well. Perhaps the greatest benefit to be 
derived from it, however, will be to keep 
the bees uninterruptedly rearing brood, un- 
til clover and locust begin to furnish a 
supply. 

This plant is a near relative of the catnip, 
which it closely resembles in the shape of 
the leaf. Both were originally from Xepata, 
in Germany, hence the Latin names, Nep- 
ata Cataria, and Nepata Glechoma. I pre- 
sume it would be an easy matter to raise 
this plant from the seed, but I would hesi- 
tate some in sending out such seed. It 
spreads much more rapidly than the catnip, 
because it catches in the soil like strawberry 
plants, from the little rootlets shown in the 
engraving. 

QOLDENROD. {Solidago). This, in 
some localities, furnishes the bulk of the 
great yield of fall honey. It grows almost 
all over the U. S,, and there are so nnny 
different varieties that it would be almost 
out of the question to try to give you a pic- 
ture of it at all ; the botany describes -53 dif- 



GOLDENROD. 



Ill 



GOLDENROD. 



ferent varieties, and it is common to find a 
half - dozen growing within a few rods. Its 
name describes it, so that almost any one 
should be able to identify it. If you see 
autumn flowers as yellow as gold, growing 
on the top of tall rods, you may be^pretty 
sure they belong to this family. The flow- 
ers are very small, but grow in great mass- 
es, sometimes in long racemes, and again in 
dense bunches. The general characteristics 
are such that, after a little practice, you can 
readily identify any one of the family ;'_but to 
assist you, we give the cuts. 

Bees are almost incessantly humming 
over the flowers in some localities; in others, 
they seem to pass them entirely unnoticed. 
I have passed it in localities where bee- 
keepers say they have never seen a bee on 
it at all. Bees are seen on it, occasionally, 
in our locality, but I do not think they get 
enough honey from it, iii^ ordinary seasons, 
to make it perceptible in the hive. 

The honey is usually very thick, and of a 
rich golden color, much like the blossoms. 
When first gathered, it has, like the honey of 
most other fall flowers, a rather rank weedy 
smell and taste; but after it has thoroughly 
ripened, it is rich and pleasant. On getting 
the first taste of Goldenrod honey, one 
might think they would never like any oth- 
er; but like many other kinds, one soon tires 



of the peculiar aromatic flavor, and goes 
back to the clover honey as the great uni- 
versal staple to be used with bread and but- 
ter. A patch of Goldenrod might have a 
place on our honey-farm, and perhaps, with 
cultivation, it might do better and give a 
surer crop in all localities ; but as it is only 
a common weed on our farms, I would hard- 
ly favor a general distribution of the seed. 




THREE VARIETIES OF GOLDENROD. 



H. 



HIVE MAKING. Although it is 
very important to have good, nicely fitting, 
well-made hives for the bees, I would by no 
means encourage the idea, that the hive is 
going to insure the crop of honey. I think, 
as Mr. Quinby used to say, that a good 
swarm of bees would store almost as much 
honey in a half - barrel or nail-keg, as in the 
most elaborate and expensive hive made, 
other things being equal. 33 This is suppos- 
ing we had a good swarm, in the height of 
the honey-season. If the colony were small, 
it would do much better if put into a hive so 
small that the bees could nearly or quite fill 
it, thus economizing the animal heat, that 
they might keep up the temperature for 
brood - rearing, and the working of wax. 
Also, should the bees get their nail-keg full 
of honey, unless more room were given 
them at just the right moment, a consider- 
able loss of honey would be the result. The 
thin walls of the nail-keg would hardly be 
the best economy for a wintering hive, nor 
for a summer hive either, unless it were well 
shaded from the direct rays of the sun. 

Hives with thick walls, made of some po- 
rous material that is a good non-conductor 
of heat, as well as an absorbent of moisture, 
have been well proven to have decided ad- 
vantages over hives made of a single thick- 
ness of boards, especially for wintering ; 
but, as they are heavy to move around, and 
rather more expensive in the start, I think 
it well to have both winter and summer 
hives in the same apiary. The single-walled 
hive which we call the Simplicity, on ac- 
count of the simpleness of its construction 
and management, answers almost as well as 
the winter hives for summer use, and can al- 
so be so arranged as to do tolerably for win- 
ter: the winter hive which we call the chaff 
hive, because the walls are made about four 
inches thick, and packed with chaff, are 
much the safest for winter and spring, and 
are also very convenient for summer use, ex- 
cept that they are not easily carried about. 
These chaff hives are permanently a two- 



story hive; that is, the upper story is not re- 
movable, as is the case with the Simplicity 
hive. On this account, the latter is much 
the cheapest hive in an apiary, for a single 
story can be used for small swarms or nu- 
clei, and answers every purpose of a full 
hive, until more room is needed, and then 
an extra story can be added, or even a third, 
as the case may require. For these reasons, 
the Simplicity hive is the one most used, 
and is always needed, no matter how many 
chaff hives you may have. 

As an illustration of how our friends take 
to the Simplicity hive, I would mention that, 
during the year 1883, we sold 15,000 of these 
hives, besides 4000 chaff hives and 1000 porti- 
co L. hives. 

HOW TO MAKE A SIMPLICITY HIVE. 

If I were going off on a journey, and 
should desire a lot of new hands to make 
some hives in my absence, I should talk to 
them about as follows: 

Boys, I want these hives good and nice; 

and, to have them so, you must be careful. 

The first thing you are to do is to get some 

lumber, and, if you can, you would better 

; get white pine. If you can not get this, you 

i would better use white wood. If you can not 

get that either, get the best lumber that they 

have for house - building, in your locality. 

| For the body of the hive, you want boards 

j just one foot wide. For the cover and bot- 

j torn - boards, which are one and the same 

thing, you want boards not less than 16! 

inches wide. For the narrow boards, we 

I get best barn-boards, and we pay for them, 

at this date, $24 per M.; for the wide boards, 

we have to pay about $28. As soon as you 

get your lumber home, have it nicely " stick - 

| ed up." I say nicely, for I do not believe I 

ever had a boy that would put up lumber 

safely, unless he was told a great many 

times. Your lumber would better be 16 feet 

long, for this length works with less waste 

I than any that is shorter. Now, before you 

stick it up, you are to prepare a level place 

I for the first board ; or, rather, you are to 



HIVE-MAKING. 114 

have the first board lie straight and flat. If 
it is to be left out of doors, it should have 
slant enough to carry off the water. If you 
have shop room, you can put it in doors. Do 
not lay the first board on the floor, but have 
some sticks under it. These sticks for stick- 
ing up lumber should be of an exact thick- 
ness, and I think it will pay to provide some 
that are just right. If you are making many 
hives, you will have refuse sticks that will 
come very handy for this purpose. The 
sticks should be about H inches wide, exact- 
ly I thick, and 15 or 20 inches long. A stick 
should be placed at each end of the boards, 
and two more between them, so as to make 
the spaces about equal. Put the sticks ex- 
actly over each other, or you will, if you 
have a large pile, have the boards bent or 
warped by the weight of those above. When 
they are all piled up square and true, you 
can feel safe in regard to them. Even if the 
lumber is to be used within three days, I 
would put it up in this way as soon as it is 
unloaded. 

If you are going to make accurate work, 
you must have your lumber all of an exact 
thickness; and as it is much easier to talk 
and write about having it exactly I than it 
is to make it so, I will explain to you a kind 
of gauge that I had to give the planing-mill 
men, before we planed our own lumber. 
Below is a picture of it, full size. 



HIVE-MAKING. 




GAUGE FOR PLANING LU3IBER. 

When you carry them the lumber, tell 
them if it is planed so that the "too large 1 ' 
notch just fits it, it will have to be planed 
over again ; and that, if it goes into the u too j 
small" notch, it is spoiled. This will soon j 
get them into the habit of having it " just 
right," every time. Their planers must also 
be so adjusted that both edges of the board i 
axe just right. Since the 18-inch Lilliputians 
cost only $75, if you have much work to do, j 
it is by far the most profitable way, to have 
a planer of your own. Then you can set it 
just as accurately as you choose, and it will 
pay for itself, where there is work to do, in 
a few weeks. The usual price for planing 
is $1.00 per M., and we can do that amount 
without trouble per hour, with a ^-horse- 
power engine. If the lumber is not well 
seasoned it may be well to have it planed 
to the too-large gauge ; but this is a very bad 



way of doing, on many accounts. Get your 
lumber seasoned as well as it possibly can 
be, before you commence work, and, if you 
are obliged to use that which is not well sea- 
soned, cut your stuff to the exact length, 
then stick it up, and leave it until the very 
last moment, before you take it to the exact 
width you wish it. This is, perhaps, one of 
the surest ways, especially when the work 
is not all to be sent off immediately. We 
frequently leave covers in this way, and only 
bring them to the finishing width the 
very day they are to be shipped. It is espe- 
cially needful that the covers be well season- 
ed, for a season-check would let in water, 
and endanger the life of the colony. 

A great many of Barnes foot-power saws 
are in use ; therefore I shall give my direc- 
tions for them, and, if you have different 
saws, you can modify the directions to suit 
your conditions. 

We will first talk about making the body 
of the hive. Your pile of one - foot boards 
is to be cut up in lengths of 37 inches. Re- 
member, just one inch more than a yard. 
To avoid making mistakes, you can cut a 
stick of just that length. If you have quite 
a pile of stuff, a gauge that you can push 
the boards against will be very handy. Al- 
ways commence at the best end of the 
boards. If the end is checked or bad, allow 
a little for waste. Cut off 5 lengths, and 
leave the surplus of half a foot or more on 
the last piece ; that is, do not cut it off. 
Pile these last pieces by themselves. You 
will need an assistant to do this, and if you 
have a boy or girl 10 or 15 years old, she can 
help " papa " a u big lot," in making hives. 

The table of the saws, as it comes from the 
factory, is hardly large enough to make 
hives on conveniently, and so we will 
piece out the stationary side by a sort of 
leaf about 1 foot wide. This leaf is easily 
fastened on securely, by a couple of hard 
wood strips screwed on the under side of 
both leaf and table. After your boards are 
all cut up, you will proceed to bring them to 
an exact width and straighten one side. As 
we want the boards to finish Hi, we will 
trim them, the first time, to about 111; 
those that will not hold out this width, can 
be saved to make frames of. To bring one 
side straight, you must set the parallel bar at 
the left of the saw, at just the right distance 
from it, and then push the boards through, 
holding closely up to the gauge. Very like- 
ly when you start, your saw may "run," as it 
is termed ; this may result from either of two 
causes. If the teeth are filed longer on one 
side than on the other, and insufficiently set, 



HIVE-MAKING. 



115 



HIVE-MAKING. 



the saw will be very likely to run either into 
or out of the lumber. This will not do at 
all, for we can never have an accurate hive, 
unless we get a straight edge, in the first 
place, to work from. Give the saw set j 
enough to make it run clear, as explained in 
Section Honey-boxes, and have the teeth 
so that the cut ahead of the saw shows as in 
the diagram below. 



IMPROPERLY FILED. PROPERLY FILED. 

A second cause of trouble may sometimes 
be found in your parallel bar, which must 
be just parallel, or you can not have a true 
straight cut. The diagram will show you 
the consequences of having this bar improp- 
erly set. 



can see, by the circles of growth, which is 
the heart-side, as is shown in the cuts. 

##1 





SETTING THE PARALLEL BAR. 

In fig. 1, the bar is set so that the board 
between the saw and the gauge wedges, as 
it were ; and, when this is the trouble, you 
will see the surface, at A, shows as if it had 
been planed ; this is done by the face of the 
saw, which rubs or burnishes the wood, as 
it squeezes past. The remedy is plain; 
move the end, D, away from the saw a little, 
or the other end nearer to it, as may be nec- 
essary to preserve the proper distance. In 
fig. 2 we see the opposite extreme ; and 
when this is the trouble, you will find it al- 
most impossible to keep your board up 
against the gauge, for the saw is all the 
time crowding it off. The piece B will 
constantly be getting too narrow, and the 
strip that comes off, too wide. Before you 
attempt to do any work, and thus spoil your 
lumber, you should test your saw and gaug- 
es, on some refuse pieces. When it is all 
right, the saw should run clear and smooth- 
ly in the center of the saw-cut, and the stuff 
should easily be kept close up to the gauge. 

While you have been doing this work, the 
movable side to the table should be taken 
off, as it is not needed, and would only be in 
the way. After one edge is trimmed, set 
your gauge so as to cut exactly 111, and 
bring the boards all to this width. 

Now, before going further you are to sort 
the boards, so as to have the heart- side of 
the lumber come on the outside of the hive. 
If you look at the end of each board, you 



WHY BOARDS WARP. 

At B, you see a board cut off just at one 
side of the heart of the tree ; at C, near the 
bark ; at A, the heart is in the center of the 
board. You all know, almost without being 
told, that boards always warp like C ; that 
is, the heart side becomes convex. The 
reason is connected with the shrinkage of 
boards in seasoning. When a log lies until 
it is perfectly seasoned, it often checks, as 
in fig. 2. You will observe that the wood 
shortens in the direction of the circles, and 
but very little, if any, along the lines that 
run from the bark to the center. To allow 
this shrinkage in one direction, the log 
splits or checks in the direction shown. 
Now, to go back to our boards, you will see 
that B shrinks more than A, because A has 
the heart of the tree in its center ; th.it C 
will shrink, in seasoning, much more on the 
bark-side than on the heart-side ; that this 
can not fail to bring the board out of a lev- 
el ; and that the heart side will always be 
convex. You have all seen bee-hives, prob- 
ably, with the corners separated and gaping 
open, while the middle of the boards was 
tight up in place. The reason was, that the 
mechanic had put the boards on wrong side 
out. If the heart-side had been outward, 
the corners of the hive would have curled 
inwardly, and, if the middle had been nailed 
securely, the whole hive would have been 
likely to have close, tight joints, even if ex- 
posed to the sun, wind, and rain. This mat- 
ter is especially important in making covers 
to hives. If your boards are all sorted with 
the heart side downward, we are ready to 
proceed. I say heart side downward, for 
you want them placed just as they are to be 
used on the saw. I have seen boys that 
would turn every board over, just as they 
picked it up to put on the saw table, instead 
of piling the whole just as they were to be 
used. I have seen others that would carry 
each one of several hundred boards 6 or 8 ft. 
to the saw, when the whole pile might have 
been put almost within one foot of the place 
where it was to be used. It is very awkward 
and extravagant to do work in this way. 



IIIVE-MAKIXG 



116 



HIVE-MAKING. 



Before we cut these boards into sides and 
ends, a groove is to be sawed for the shoul- 
der under the cover, and the lower edge is to 
be beveled, to allow the hives to be piled 
over each other. The following cut shows a 
side and end view 



-B&r-H 



of the board. The 
groove, A, is to be 
just 2 inches from 
the top B, and is to 
be i deep. This you 
can easily do by 
setting your paral- 
lel bar just 2 inches from the saw, and screw- 
ing the table-top up until the saw cuts I 
deep, cutting the groove in the heart-side. 
of course. Xnw, to take off the three-cor- 
nered strip at the lower edge, a little differ- 
ent rigging is required. In fact, we must 
have a table to slide the boards on. and it 
must set at an angle. This angle we will have 
4o degrees, because our table will then be 
just right for making the corners of the 
hives. The beveling platform is easily 
made of a piece of 2-inch plank, (i inches 
wide, and 2£ feet long. Take a three-cor- 
nered piece from the lower edge, and then 
nail tins piece against the other edge, in 
the position shown by the following cut. 

*E7 




BEVELING PLATFORM. 

This piece, A, is to rest directly on the top 
of the parallel bar of your saw-table. When 
you get it adjusted so that the thin edge, B, 
fits closely to the table, screw it fast to the 
bar. This allows the piece to be adjusted 
upon any spot on the table, and gives us a 
square miter to any stuff that may be laid 
on it while it is being sawed. Adjust the 
whole at the right distance from the saw, 
and then take off the coiner of all the 
boards, on the opposite side from which we 
sawed the groove, as shown at the bottom 
of C, in the figure at the top of this column. 
Now remove the beveling platform, and you 
are ready to cut up the boards. We have 
all this time been using the rip saw ; we 
will now change and put on the cut-off. 

I think we would better u oil up," at about 
this stage of proceeding. I do not know 
why it is, but I scarcely ever take hold of a 
foot-power saw when it would not be great- 
ly improved by giving it a thorough oiling. 
It is really a saving of time, as well as of 
strength, to oil your machinery often. 



Much time is also saved, in changing saws, 
by having your saws and wrench close at 
hand. The fifteen-cent screw-driver, with 
a wrench, exactly fits Barnes saw-man- 
drel, and we keep one tied, by a stout cord, 
to the frame of the machine, that it may be 
always in readiness. To be obliged to stop 
your work, and hunt for tools when you are 
in a hurry, is " awful." You would better 
fix some kind of a drawer in your saw-table, 
to keep your saws, or they may get down 
among the rubbish, and be lost. I have 
known people to lose their cut-off saw, and 
be obliged to stop and hunt for it ; and I 
should not be surprised, if they scolded some- 
body who was not to blame at all. I have 
spoken of having one of the children help 
by handing you the boards, etc.; if they do, 
be sure that you make the work pleasant 
for them. If you lose your tools and scold, 
you certainly will not make good hives. 

You probably have not made any mis- 
takes, thus far; but now, before you com- 
mence cutting off the pieces to the exact 
size, be careful. As you will need a pair of 
iron frames for putting your hives together, 
I think you had better have them on hand 
now, to take your measurements by. If you 
attempt to measure with a square, you will 
get it wrong side up or something, and get 
your gauges set wrong. It w r as but yester- 
day that one of the boys cut up a wmole pile 
of boards to the wrong length, because he 
looked on the wrong side of the square. 
For fear he would do something of the kind, 
I had given him a board just right, for a sam- 
ple; but some one else wanted it, and so he 
took the dimensions, and it turned out as I 
have said. Go to your blacksmith, and get 
him to make two iron frames like the pic- 
ture below. They are to be made of i-inch 
round iron, and the dimensions, inside, are 
to be as exactly 16 by 20i as you and he 
both can make them. When you have, with 
some trouble, got them nearly right, do not 
say that is near enough, but make them ex- 
act. 



PAIR OF IRON GAUGE - FRAMES, FOR 
IIIVE-MAKIXG. 

The corners, you must finish out with a 
file, so that they are sharp and true. For' 
convenience of slipping them over the hives, 
they are to be made a little flaring, like a 
barrel-hoop ; if they are I inch larger, each 
way, on the large side, it will be about right. 
Now for the buzz - saw. You will observe 



HIVE-MAKING. 



117 



HIVE-MAKING. 



that the sliding half of the table has a bar 
bolted to its top, for a square cut off gauge; 
this gauge must be set accurately, like the 
other, or you will have much trouble. It is 
to be so set, that, when you cut off a board 
held closely against it, it will be exactly 
square across the end. You can test this 
with a good square, but I think I would pre- 
fer to take a board with true straight sides ; 
cut off a little, say a half -inch ; now turn it 
over, and cut off again ; if the strip cut off 
is of exactly the same width at each end, 
your gauge is set true. For fear you may 
not get the idea, I give you a picture. 




1IOAV TO SET THE CROSS-CUT BAR. 

If your gauge is set right, the slices, C, 
will be exactly straight; i. e., not wedge- 
shaped, even if you turn the board over so 
as to cut from the opposite edge at every 
cut you make. When you are satisfied with 
this, set your parallel bar so as to cut the 
side - pieces of the hive to just go into the 
iron frame lengthwise, and the end-pieces, 
to just go in crosswise. The 37-inch boards 
will just make one of each. If you want to 
test the accuracy of your work, pile the 
boards on each other, and see if they are all 
exactly alike all around. I should, right 
here, suggest that you have your work nice- 
ly piled up, all the time; and a couple of 
willow clothes - baskets, set near the saw, 
will be just the thing to toss all your odds 
and ends into. One of them should be set 
directly under the table, to catch all the 
sawdust. Do not let a scrap or splinter be 
thrown on the floor. Always put them in the 
basket. It will pay well in dollars and 
cents, and then, when a visitor comes in, he 
will say,— 

"Why, what beautiful work you are doing, 
and what a pleasant place this is." On the 
contrary, if you have your lumber all scat- 
tered about, and sticks breaking and crash- 
ing under foot among your tools, he would 
be very apt to say, — 

"Well, I'm glad I do not have to work and 
drudge through life as that fellow does." 

Another thing: If your stuff is scattered 
about, you will very likely miss some, and, 
after you have changed your gauges that 
were set so nicely and carefully, you will 
have to go and set them over, just to finish 
the few odd pieces. This second time you 
will be likely to do it in a hurry, because you 
are cross about having been so careless, and 



perhaps this will be the means of making a 
bad job of the whole lot of hives. Keep all 
your pieces piled up square and true, and all 
together, so that none can be missed. 

You will remember that we had some 
longer pieces, that came from the extreme 
ends of the boards. In cutting them up, 
you can save lumber by making two sides 
or three ends of these pieces, or even two 
sides and one end, as the stuff may happen 
to come out. 

While cutting up stuff, I would have a 
gauge of the length wanted, right handy, 
and every little while just try a board and 
see if it is just exactly right. If you have 
a board that you know is just right, stand it 
on end, beside the pieces you are cutting, 
and then pass your finger along their tops, 
and you can readily tell which is longest, if 
there is any difference. 

Our stuff is now all in two piles; and, if 
we wish to come out even, there should be 
just as many end-boards as side-boards; 
that is the two piles should be of equal 
height ; as you come pretty near the last, 
you can manage so as to "fetch up" the 
pile that is lowest. You will remember that 
these boards were cut off, so that the short 
ones just fill the iron gauge-frames cross- 
wise, and the long ones lengthwise ; well, 
now we are to miter or bevel the corners, so 
that, when four of the boards are set up in 
this shape— see cut— 
the iron frame will 
just drive over them. 
You will observe 
that the top of the 
hive shows that the 
boards are put to- 
gether just like a pic- 
ture-frame; and to saw this miter is our 
next job. Put on the beveling platform, as 
before, and, with your cut-off saw keen and 
sharp, cut off a corner so as to leave a sharp 
feather-edge on each end of every board. 
You can tell when your gauge is right, by 
the way in which the iron hoop drives over 
the four boards. If the angle is just right, 
the corners should close up so as to leave 
scarcely a visible crack where the joint is. 
All the boards are, of course, to be mitered 
at the corners in this way, and then w r e are 
ready to take off the strips that go around 
under the covers. If you will look at the 
cut of the beveling platform, you will see 
beside it a 3-cornered bar with a couple of 
wires twisted in it. This bar is to be fast- 
ened, by the wires, to the planed iron track 
On which the movable side of the saw-table 
S 




IIIVE-MAKING. 



118 



IIIVE-MAKING. 



slides, the movable side being removed. 
Now set the beveling platform so close to 
the saw that yon can cut the strip clear off, 
leaving the desired shoulder, as in the cut. 




TAKING OFF THE STRIP UNDER THE COVER. 

In the above cut, let A be the stationary 
side of the saw-table; B the square end of 
the parallel bar to said table, and II the saw. 
C is the beveling platform screwed to B; E 
the side or end of the hive lying on it F; the 
strip that goes under the cover, and G the 3- 
cornered piece that is wired to the iron 
track. This last piece is to rest the square 
edge of the board against while pushing it 
through, to cut off this strip. You will ob- 
serve that the table is screwed up high 
enough to allow the saw to cut just into the 
notch I, that we sawed in all the pieces be- 
fore they were cut up. Our side -pieces are 
now finished, and the ends are all done, ex- 
cept cutting the rabbets for the frames to 
hang on. This operation is so simple, it 
need hardly be described. In the accom- 
panying cut you will see a cross-section of 
one of the ends that has been rab- 
beted, and one that has not. We 
first saw in |, and then saw 
down from B, to meet it. As the 
lumber is i, if we take out f, we 
shall have just a half-inch of wood 
left. When the metal rabbet is in 
place, and the frame hung in the 
hive, the top of the frame should 
be just on a level with the shoulder 
C. As our frame is just 9i deep, and we 
want just about I under the bottom-bar, 
making di in all, we want just 9i inches 
from the shoulder, C, to the bottom edge of 
the boards, D. This will insure just f be- 
tween the upper and lower frames when the 
hives are used with two stories. If our 
metal rabbets are made to stand just I inch 
higher than the wood, and the projecting 
arm of the top - bar is also i inch, the 
shoulder, A, will be just i inch lower than the 
shoulder, C. 

You will observe that I have calculated 
for f between the upper and lower frames, 
and between the bottom of the frames and 
the bottom of the hive. Well, I inch would 
be still better than I, if we were pure the hwn= 




her would never shrink by after-seasoning 
so as to make it any less than i. As it will 
shrink some in spite of us, I think we would 
better calculate on |. This is also the dis- 
tance we need between the frames and the 
outside of the hive, all around; not more 
than I, and not less than }. In cutting out 
your rabbet, you will, of course, first cut 
down from A, and I would gauge from D 
instead of from the sharp edge B, thus 
avoiding inaccuracy. When you cut in from 
15, rest the stuff on the shoulder, C, and you 
will have no trouble in getting the saw- cuts 
to lyatch nicely. If you have a rabbeting- 
head, you can take the wood all out at one 
operation; but then you have shavings in- 
stead of strips, and it takes a little more 
power. The strips are of no particular use, 
it is true; but we find them very handy for 
sticking up covers, as you will see presently. 
While I think of it, in the absence of a foot- 
power saw you can make the bevels and 
shoulders by grinding a plane in the shape 
you wish ; in this way you can get very nice 
joints, but it is rather slow business. 

The body of our hive is nearly all done, 
except the handles, or, rather, hand - holes- 
that you lift them by ; these are made with 
a wabbling saw. Sometimes our saws have 
a fashion of " wabbling, 1,1 just when we 
would rather they wouldn't, and it would 
seem to be quite an easy matter to make one 
wabble : so it is ; but, with the Barnes man- 
drels, it is not quite so easy after all ; be- 
cause they have their saws run on a shoulder 
that is considerably larger than where the 
screw is cut. The way in which we make a 
saw wabble, ordinarily, is by a pair 
of wooden washers like this cut. 
But the Barnes saw-arbor requires 
that we, after making the washer as 
above, cut on the side of one of 
them a shoulder something like this, 
to hold the saw true. The idea is to 
have the saw securely clamped be- 
tween the two wooden washers; to have 
it clamped so it can not really slip round, or 
out of true. I mean by out of true, so that 
the teeth are just as long on one side as on 
the other. Unless you have it so, the 
cavity will be deeper at one side than at the 
other. The first washer should be thick 
enough to allow the saw to clear the table, 
and, as the movable side of the table is ad- 
justed, Ave can give the wabbling saw all 
the space it needs. You will need both the 
parallel and cross - cut gauge for this busi- 
ness, and they are to be so set that, when the 
boards of the hjve are carefully and slowly 



HIVE-MAKING. 



119 



HIVE-MAKING. 



dropped down on the saw, one end at a time, 
a nice cavity for the fingers will be cut. To 
srnoothe out the bottom of the cut, r you have 
only to move your board slightly sidewise 
just before you lift it off the saw. This 
trims off the strings, as it were,' left between 
the saw-teeth. I would have these handles 
made in the sides, as well as the'ends, for it I 
is often convenient to lift a hive, when the J 
ends, one or both, are not convenient to get 
at ; for you must remember the Simplicity 
hives can be placed tight up against each 
other, as there is nothing in the way of^so 
doing. 

HOW TO MAKE THE COVERS. 

For those you will need pretty good lum- 
ber, and it must be of such ^ width that, 
when fully seasoned and finished, it will be 
16 inches; or, to make it plainer, each cover 
board, when done, must exactly fill^the iron 
gauge-frames we pictured on page 116. The 
length we can manage without any trouble ; 
but the width, taking into consideration how 
prone to shrink 16-inch boards are, is a little 
more difficult. If our covers are not season- 
ed thoroughly, they are very apt to split 
from end to end, after having the sides 
nailed as securely as we do it. 

I would first cut all the boards in two, in 
the middle, using a measure, to prevent cut- 
ting in such a way as to spoil a cover, and 
then rip off a strip so as to reduce all to 161 
inches. This gives us one straight edge, 
and shortens the boards so we can handle 
them. If you have no assistant, you can 
cut them in two once more, and this will 
enable you to handle them very readily. 
With the straight edge against the cut-off 
bar, cut your boards up carefully to 20i 
inches long, or just so as to slip in the iron 
frame. If your lumber is seasoned as well 
as you can get it, you may now bring it to 16 
inches width, or so it will just squeeze into 
the iron frame sidewise. After this, it is 
only to be rabbeted. That you may under- 
stand perfectly the purpose of rabbeting and 
cross-nailing I will give you some cuts. You 
remember that we had 2-inch strips from 
both sides and ends, when we made the bev- 
els on the hive. Well, four of these strips 
placed in the iron frame, and nailed, will 
look about like Eig. II. 




FV. ■ ~.\ -; ■■■■ -.--. ,-" ■:. '■ ■ ■" :■■ "~.rl 



is a cross-section of the cover, aud shows how 
the nails are to be driven. If the covers are 
I, you will have a half-inch of wood to leave, 
as shown, after taking out f , to get the 
shoulder ; but, as much of the lumber will 
dress more than |, and some of it a full inch, 
I would plane it just enough to get a smooth 
surface, and no more. 

Now, supposing you can not get perfectly 
seasoned lumber (and, in fact, according to 
my ideas, the lumber as it comes from the 
lumber-yards is never seasoned as it should 
b3 for covers), what shall we do? I will tell 
you ; get out your covers just as I have men- 
tioned, except you will omit rabbeting one 
edge. Pile the boards up, placing between 
them the sticks that came out of the hives 
when we cut the rabbet ; or, if more con- 
venient, use pieces of lath, or any strips 
of an even thickness. Put the sticks close 
to the ends of the covers, and pile them up 
clear to the ceiling of your room ; the higher 
the better. Now, when you wish to use 
some cover-stuff, or fill an order, take down 
as many as you want, and rabbet the re- 
maining edge until the cover justs slips into 
the frame. 

NAILING HIVES. 

We use 6-penny finishing nails, and put 
four nails in each side all around the hive. 
Nail the corners securely, first, and drive 
your nails as close to the corner as you can, 
without having the nails split out. Never 
let the point of a nail show itself, under any 
circumstances, and do not have any split- 
ting or botch work, if it takes you a whole 
forenoon to nail up a single hive. 




/// 

HOW TO MAKE THE COVER. 

Eig. 1 shows the cover-board all rabbeted, I 
ready to be pushed into Eig. II, Fig- III, ' 



IRON SMOOTn-PLANE FOR DRESSING THE 
BEVELS TO AN EXACT FIT. 

To work to good advantage, a pair of iron 
frames are needed, although you can get 
along with but one. In your first attempts, 
it is hardly to be expected that you have 
beeu able to get the hive-stuff so it will just 
drive into these frames, and I hope you have 
beeu on the safe side, and made your boards 
a little large, if any thing. If such is the 
case, you are to have one of the neat little 
iron smooth - planes to be had so cheaply 
now a days, and plane off the ends until 
they are just a tight fit. The iron frames 
will draw them up, so that you cap hardly 
see where the joint ig, Now nail them as 



HIVE-MAKING. 



120 



HIVE-MAKING. 



directed, and cross - nail. The cross - nails 
should come so near each other that they 
almost touch. We nail down through the 
cover with 4-penny nails, and cross-nail into 
the end with 6-pennies, as before. 

You can not very well get lumber that will 
make all the covers so as to be weather- 
proof ; therefore we sort out the poorest, 
and use them for bottom-boards. By this 
means we have the covers all good, and no 
lumber wasted. It is for this reason, and 
that we may have as few separate pieces in 
our hive as possible, that I advise making the 
cover and bottom boards all one and the 
same thing. If you are out of the one, you 
can use the other, and vice versa. There- 
fore, the Simplicity hive is nothing but this 
plain simple body, and the plain simple 
cover; and, if we make these two pieces 
just right, we are all right. 

Since the invention 
of the mat for cover- 
ing the frames, we 
have made the Sim- 
plicity hives with the 
corner -joint like the 
cut opposite. It pre- 
sents the same finish- 
ed appearance as the 
straight bevel, and, with proper machinery, 
is little, if any, more work to make. It also 
makes a stronger corner, when thoroughly 
cross-nailed. 

THE SIMPLICITY LANOSTKOTII HIVE. 

As there are some who insist on having a 
hive with a permanent bottom-board and the 
old-style Langstroth portico, I have devised 
such a hive that will take the regular Sim- 
plicity for an upper story. 




in front. The sides are made in pairs, and 
are 2 ii inches long, by 11 wide, when fin- 
ished. The back end is made on a miter, 
like the Simplicity ; to hold the front end 
firmly, a rabbet is cut into the sides t by I ; 
to hold the bottom - boards securely, 
and to make a neat - looking job outside, a 
rabbet is also cut in both sides and back end. 
The bottom - board runs crosswise, and is 
made in two pieces. The portico roof ex- 
tends over, and is nailed on the top edge of 
the front end-board ; it also has a lip, or pro- 
jection, on its upper back edge, that makes 
the bevel around the top. By this means 
the front end-board is simply a plain board 
15 inches long by 8| inches wide, rabbeted 
at the ends to fit into the side-boards. 

On some accounts, such a hive is desira- 
ble ; but as it can never be used as a second 
story, at least without making holes in the 
bottom or having the bottom movable, I 
think I would have the greater part of the 
hives in the apiary of the usual Simplicity 
form, both Tipper and lower story alike. As 
the entrance is fixed, we are compelled to 
use the usual 3-cornered movable blocks. 

COVEItS TO HIVES. 

In the old-style L. hive, it has been usual 
to make the covers to the hives of two 
pieces. They are tongued and grooved to- 
gether, of course, but, in our apiary, this 
kind of covers has made more trouble by 
leaking, than almost any other. They will 
leak in time, in spite of you. It is for this 
reason that I have used one single clear 
board for covers. But a good many people 
want a cover with projections : it is pretty 
expensive to buy clear lumber for covers 
more than 16 inches wide. In our locality 
we can not figure such at less than $35.00 
per thousand. 




LANGSTROTH HIVE TO TAKE A SIMPLICITY 
UPPER STORY OR COVER. 

It will be observed that the sides are pro- 
longed to make the portico; the bottom- 
board is also made to project just 3 inches 



THE STORY- AND- A-HALF HIVE. 

Then what shall we do with people who 
want a cover that won't leak, and must have 
it project? Narrow boards, 8 or 10 inches 
wide, are cheap and plentiful, compared with 
wide, clear stuff, and I have devised the 
cover to the hive shown above. The ridge- 
board is I stuff, 5 inches wide, and can be 



HIVE-MAKING. 



121 



HIVE-MAKING. 



grasped easily so as to raise the cover with 
one hand, when the other is occupied. The 
other two boards are |-inch stuff, 61 inches 
wide; they are lapped under, and screwed 
firmly into, the ridge-board before nailing. 
The rest of the cover is I -inch stuff, put 
together like the Simplicity hives. 

Another item comes in here. A good 
many winter bees in the Simplicity hives, 
with but a single story, and the cover is too 
shallow for a cushion and breathing - room 
above. By making our new eo-\er 5 inches 
deep, we get room for a cushion and venti- 
lation; and more than all, it will allow of a 
single tier of section boxes over the frames, 
so it is, really, a stery-and-a-half hive. 

If we use sections over the frames, under 
such a cover, no bees must get outside the 
sections, or they would get mashed when 
the cover is set down. 



separate them in the middle, and swing 
them around, so that the finished ones will 
come next the glass. 




HOW TO MAKE THE CHAFF HIVE. 

This is all, except the corner posts, made 
of cull lumber, which can be purchased at 
any lumber-yard ; we get it for $10 per M. 
Get it long enough beforehand to have it 
piled up and seasoned, if you possibly can ; 
if you cannot, you must manage to have the 
stuff piled up so as to season after it is got 
out ; it will season very quickly in these thin 
narrow strips, and so we often cut it up, uri- 

j seasoned, when we are behind on orders. 
Eix your table, as before directed, and cut 

! your whole pile of boards, before being 
planed, into pieces two feet long. If you 
do not cut them all so exact, it will not mat- 
ter a great deal for this hive, as you will 
presently see. 

After your boards are all cut up, put on 
your ripsaw, and split them up three inches 
wide; but instead of cutting them square, 
cut them on about the angle shown below. 



COMBINED SHIPPING - CASE AND HONEY- 
CRATE FOR STORY-AND-A-HALF HIVE. 

I have for years thought of a shipping-case 
that could be set directly on the hive to be 
filled, and taken right off the hive and sent 
to market; but difficulties have always 
stood in the way, until now. The above 
has bottom-bars to protect and hold the sec- 
tions, precisely like these on the wide 
frames, and they are supported by a groove 
cut along the lower edge of the end- boards. 
Now, to space these bottom-bars as they lie 
in the grooves, exactly so as to match the 
bottom-bars of the sections, we use a spacing 
strip shown in the engraving, below the 
case. This strip, when pushed down in 
place, also holds the separate! s at just the 
right height. The sections are closed tops ; 
and when they are all in place, a thin strip 
is pushed down so as to rest on the top edges 
of the separators, and hold the boxes firmly 
upright, and in place. A strip of glass runs 
along each side, which allows the apiarist to 
see how fast the bees are working, by simply 
raising one side of the cover to the History 
hive. See Sections, etc. 

If the central sections are capped first, 



HOW TO CUT THE STUFF FOR SIDING. 

If you find any bad knots or shakes, do 
not split them, but pile them up nicely at 
one side, to be used as rough bottom-boards. 
This ripping can be clone either on the foot 
power saw or with the hand - ripper ; we use 
the latter, and I think it does the work more 
rapidly. To cut the pieces on the bevel, you 
are to screw a bevel-shaped piece on the saw 
table. 




PLATFORM FOR GIVING THE SIDING THE 
PROPER BEVEL. 

Two wedge-shaped pieces, of which only 
one is shown at C, are used to give the board 
the proper inclination ; the other one is sup- 
posed to be where you see the nail-holes, at 
D. A is where the saw comes up through, 
and B is a square bar that the edge of the 
rough lumber is rested against. It is fasten- 
ed to the table by screws put through the 
table - top from the under side into these 
pieces C. With the hand-ripper, we screw 
the two pieces fast to the two light wooden 
bars that constitute the only wood about 
the machine. 



HIVE-MAKING. 



The first piece that comes off will be like 
A ; turn it over, and run it through again, 
and it will be like B ; the next operation is 
to split each piece, like C. This you will 
-have to do with the hand ripper, for the foot 
power saw would not reach through so far. 
If you do not split the pieces exactly in the 
middle it does not matter, and a very thick 
one occasionally will be all the better, to 
give the hive strength without extra 
expense. You can plane this siding by 
hand very cheaply, or it may be done on the 
cigar-box planer ; if on the latter, you will 
be obliged to reduce them to a uniform 
thickness unless you choose to save out the 
thickest pieces, and plane them afterward 
with the planer a little higher. Plane only 
the one side just left by the saw. If you are 
not going to use this siding at once, pile it 
up crosswise, as coopers do their staves, 
until it is thoroughly seasoned and straight. 

Our chaff hive is built by nailing these 
pieces of siding to corner-posts, with planed 
side outward, of course. As nails have a 
fashion of drawing out when exposed to the 
sun (some carpenters say the sun pulls them 
out), we will drive them all from the inside, 
and then if "Old Sol 1 ' tries to pull them out 
by the feet he will have a tough job, and 
will only draw the heads up tighter. The 
corner-posts that we use are made of solid 
wood, and are cut from 3-inch plank. The 
plank should be so clear from knots and 
shakes that there will be no danger of the 
pieces breaking while nailing into them. 
Cut your plank, which should be as wide as 
you can get it, into pieces 22 inches long. 
Now with the beveling platform that I 
showed you in hive-making, you are to cut 
out the corner-posts in this way: 



122 HIVE-MAKiNG. 

would nail a couple of strips to the bench 
just the right distance apart ; also a third 
across the end, that we may always have the 
hive square and true. The chaff hive is not 
quite square ; it is I inch narrower on the 
entrance- side and the back ; therefore when 
you are nailing the back and front, you are 
to slip a strip of wood f inch wide between 
one of your posts and your stop. Our siding 
you remember, is just 2 feet long ; well, the 
pieces'on both front and back go clear up 
into the corners of the corner-posts. This 
will prevent the side strips from coming 
clear up by i inch, as shown below. 





IIOW TO MAKE THE CORNER-Pt 



You will observe that the saw goes in at 
each side until the cuts meet, so as to take 
out pieces like fig. II. After you get them 
all out, you are ready to nail up the outside 
of the hive. Lay two of your corner-posts, 
sa shown above, on your work-bench, and 
have them 2 feet and 2| inches apart. To 
get these dimensions without measuring, I 



EXTERNAL SHELL, AND CORNER-POSTS OF 
CHAFF niVE. 

A is the entrance ; B, B, B, B, the corner- 
posts, and C, C, C, C, the siding. Now after 
we have got the siding nailed securely with 
the beveled edges so arranged as to keep the 
rain out of the chaff, we will nail in each 
corner an inch strip, shown at D, D, D, D ; 
these are put in with heavier nails, and lock 
the whole structure most securely. 

As there is no need of uncovering the chaff 

part when we uncover thejliive, we make 

the cover so as to extend over the interior 

only, and have a permanent cover over the 

space containing the chaff. This permanent 

cover is our next piece of work. Get out 

I some long strips, just as you did the siding, 

j only have them i inch wider, preserving just 

j the same bevels on each side. Plane it on 

j both sides down to 7-8, and then cut out a 

I part as shown in the diagram. 



Fig. 1 shows the piece before taking out 
the strip, and fig. II. after it is done. You 
are to cut in i inch at A on the same bevel 
as the sides, and then 25 at B to meet the 
other cut. Now turn your cross-cut bar at 
an angle, just as if you were going to make 
a picture-frame, and make a picture-frame 
in reality, of the stuff shown at fig. II. The 
inside dimensions of the frame must be just 
19i by 20£ ; you must be very exact about the 
19i, for the frames will not have the right 
play, otherwise ; that you may get the 



HIVE-MA KING. 

proper idea, I will give you a diagram of 
this frame. 




FRAME THAT HOLDS THE COVER. 

To make the joint water - tight at the 
miters, a saw cut is made in each end of each 
piece as shown at A; and after the frame is 
nailed at the corners, a strip of tin is pushed 
in. The outside of this frame will proba- 
bly be a trifle large. 

This rim, when nailed true and square, is 
to be fitted to the tops of the corner-posts ; 
the posts can be given the proper bevel, with 
the circular saw, before the siding is nailed 
on. This bevel is the same as that of the 
siding. The top-pieces of siding are to be 
of pretty good thickness, that we may nail 
this rim securely to it, as well as to the posts. 
It may be well to state here, that the top- 
pieces of siding are nailed on first ; 7 pieces, 
of the dimensions we have given, form the 
hive. Before nailing in the last piece, you 
are to cut the entrance in the upper edge. 
This entrance is to be 8 inches long by I 
wide. The cut below will make it plain. 



HaVing now completed the outer shell, we 
will see about the inside. 

INSIDE OF CHAFF HIVE. 

This, as well as the outside, is all made of 
cheap cull lumber. I would by all means 
advise getting out your boards a little wide, 
and sticking them up until thoroughly sea- 
soned, as I have mentioned before. Cut your 
stuff in two in the middle, so that you can 
handle it readily, and then, with the hand- 
ripper, rip the boards I inch wider than you 
need, and cut them up to the exact length. 
When this is done, and your boards are all 
piled up square and true as before, you are 
ready to split them through the middle. It 
is not necessary that the boards be planed 
on more than one side, for the back side of 
all of them is next the chaff; and as the 
rough surface would tend to impede the cir- 
culation of currents of air, I do not know 
but that I would rather have them unplaned. 
Neither is it important to have the boards 
split exactly in the middle ; in fact, one end 
I had in view, while inventing this chaff 
hive, was to avoid the necessity of having to 
be so exact as we must be with hives where 
both inside and outside are exposed to view. 
You see as we go along, that while the in- 
side dimensions of the hive are to " a dot," 



123 HIVE-MAKING. 

the boards constituting it may be of all sorts 
of thicknesses, and lengths too, or at least a 
part of them, for nearly all the joints are lap 
joints. As before remarked, it is very im- 
portant that the back and front of the hive 
are at the right distance apart, and this 
proper distance is 18i inches; to insure this 
every time, we make the side-boards with 
shoulders as shown below, i by £. 



ONE OF THE SIDES OF THE INSIDE OF THE 
CHAFF HIVE. 

It will be observed that four of these 
boards are used— two above and two below, 
18i inches from shoulder to shoulder. 

The width of these boards, when finished, 
is to be just 9| inches by about 191 long. 
We will cut the shoulders on the planed 
sides, of course, because they come inside of 
the hive. The ends are of unequal length, 
for the upper story contains a greater num- 
ber of frames than the lower. The bottom 
ones are 14i in. long, and the upper ones 20i 
in.; both are 9 in. wide. In the Simplicity 
hive we were obliged to cut a rabbet into 
the upper edge of the end-boards ; but with 
these, we simply nail the tin rabbet directly 
on their upper edges. The rim before men- 
tioned forms the back to those in the upper 




DIAGRAM OF CHAFF HIVE." 



*Hay, ISM.— Since the above cuts were made there 
has been some change in the way we make the en- 
trances, 'i he bottom-board piece that comes oppo- 
site the entrance is cut inches wide and " 8 thick: 
and from the outside of the inside shell to the inside 
of the outside shell it is beveled g inch, leaving the 
end » a thick, under which a cleat is nailed, to pre- 
vent checking, etc. The entranee, then, instead of 
being at B, will be H inch lower; and the slot, in- 
stead of being on the edjre of the board, as repre- 
sented, is cut with a wabbling saw, on the same bev- 
el as the edges, '. A inch below the upper edge. This 
prevents all possibility of severe storms beating 
into the hive. 



HIVE-MAKING. 



124 



HIVE-MAKING. 



story, and a strip, nailed on to connect the 
two stories, forms the back to those in the 
lower story. This inside work is all 
made of i or | inch stuff. The bottom 
of the lower story is also made of 
this same thin stuff; and in nailing it on it 
does not matter if the boards lap over and 
project at both the sides and ends too. The 
diagram given, a transverse sectional view 
of the chaff hive, will, I think, make it all 
plain. 

Both the outside and inside are nailed up 
separately, and then they are put in place, 
and nailed together, the only points of at- 
tachment being the rim which rests on the 
top edge of the upper story, and the bottom 
of the lower story, which rests on a couple 
of strips that are attached to the siding on 
either side, and to which the bottom is nail- 
ed. Let A, A, represent the siding; B,B,B,B, 
the chaff, and C,C,C,C, the light boards that 
constitute the inner hive. D, D, is the rim 
that holds the cover, and E,E,the cover itself. 
F is the ridge - board that holds the siding 
of which the cover is made. G.G, are strips 
about H inches square, that support the up- 
per story, and attach it securely to the lower 
one. The shelf, or ledge, formed by making 
the upper story broader than the lower one, 
is exactly on a level with the top-bar of the 
lower frames, and therefore the upper tier 
of frames must hang just § of an inch from 
these, to prevent, as much ;.s possible, the 
building of combs between the two. II is 
the entrance, which is simply a covered pas- 
sage-way from the inside hive, through the 
chaff, to the outside. A frame is shown in 
place in the lower story, and the ends of 
thi-ee of them in the upper story, hanging 
at right angles to those below. J.J, are two 
heavy pieces of rough unplaned stuff, that 
support the bottom of the inside hive. Just 
below these is the rough bottom of the hive, 
which is made of the knotty and shaky 
pieces that were rejected, when we were \ 
getting out the siding. To keep out the 
dampness of the ground as much as possible, 
as well as to discourage mice from any at- 
tempt to get into the siding, we put a sheet 
of tarred building-paper just under J,J, and 
between them and the rough bottom-boards. 
These rough bottom - boards are the last 
thing put on ; when the body of the hive is 
all finished, it is turned bottom upward and 
the chaff filling put in. The chaff may be 
either wheat or oats ; it has been suggested 
that wheat would be less liable to get damp 
and settle down so as to be soggy and moldy, 
but we have noticed no such trouble with 



I either kind as yet, and the oat chaff is 
! probably the Avarmer, because it is softer 
' and more downy, like feathers. The chaff 
should be packed sufficiently to prevent it 
j from ever settling so as to leave the upper 
portions of the hive vacant. When the chaff 
is all nicely tilled into the sides, you are to 
! put as much over the bottom as possible and 
I have the tarred paper and rough bottom- 
boards go in, and then the whole is to be se- 
curely nailed, both down into the strips, J, 
and through from the siding, into the ends 
of these bottom-boards. Now we are ready 
for the cover. 

To contrive a light, cheap cover that would 
be absolutely water-proof, that would allow 
of being readily lifted with one hand, and 
still afford a flat place on the top for setting 
a case of section boxes, or any other article 
used in the apiary, caused me more hard 
study and experiment than all the rest of 
the hive put together. There are a great 
many different pieces to the chaff hive, it is 
true ; but these pieces are all made of cheap 
lumber, and one kind of pieces is made to 
answer a great variety of different purposes. 
For instance, the roof - boards of the cover 
are all sorted out of the same siding that is 
used for the body of the hive. Before piling 
this siding away, you are to select all of the 
poorest and knottiest pieces for these cov- 
ers. For the sake of lightness we will 
plane these down to |, or a little less. 
Where we get hold of very thick stuff among 
our pile of culls we can often make 3 roof- 
boards of a piece, thus saving lumber, and 
time in dressing it down. Now these boards 
or strips are to be bent in the middle, to get 
the slope to the roof ; and to do this we 
will make a broad saw-cut nearly through 
each of them, as shown below. 




\RD TO CHAFF IIIVE. 

Make the cut so nearly through, that the 
board will bend along the line, without 
trouble. To keep them bent just right, and 
to make a solid ridge-board with the flat 
place on top, we will get out a piece of f 
stuff, 23i inches long, and 5 inches wide. 
Fix a beveled piece against the parallel bar 
on your saw table, so that you can cut out 
this board thus: 

Let A represent the paral- 
lel bar ; B, the beveled piece 
screwed to it ; C, the ridge 
board we are making, and D 
the dotted lines where w< 
wish to have the saw - cut. 




HIVE-MAKING. 



125 



HIVE-MAKING. 



After going through on one side, the board 
is to be turned over, so that the piece E is 
taken entirely out at the second cut. 




COVER TO CHAFF HIVE, BEADY FOR THE 
TIN SHEETS. 

To make these cheap roof-boards water- 
proof, we will cover them with tin. Get 
12 x 21 roofing tin, which will cost, at pres- 
ent prices, about $7.00 per box. Two sheets 
are required for a cover. Notch out two of 
the corners to each sheet, I x | ; fold three 
sides of the sheet at right angles, I of an 
inch, and it is then just right to put on the 
covers, if the covers are as they should be. 
The tin is nailed fast only in the edges of 
the eaves and along the gable-ends, no nails 
being on the top side of the cover. In our 
picture of the cover, the ridge-board is rep- 
resented in place, but it is not to be put on 
until after the sheets of tin. It is put on the 
last thing, and held by nails from the inside, 
none of them being allowed to come up 
through. This tin cover is to be painted 
like the rest of the hive, and, so long as it is 
kept painted, the tin will last unimpaired. 

As the rim that holds the cover is on a 
bevel, we wish the strip that goes under the 
eaves, as w T ell as the gable-end piece with 
the ventilating - hole in it, to be beveled at 
their lower edges also ; the former we make 
of thick pieces of siding, by splitting them 
in two on the proper bevel. As these are to 
hold the nails along the eaves, they should 
be at least I thick. Eor the gable-ends, we 
adopt a little different line of management, 
and, as the principle is a very important one, 
I will take a little space to explain it. 

Much time is occupied in handling all 
these little bits of lumber; and to employ a 
strong man to handle little bits of pine, and 
turn them end for end, when he could, 
without fatigue, handle a dozen or a hundred 
just as well, is something that should be 
avoided as much as possible. The same 
idea is brought out very strongly in mak- 
ing section boxes ; bat to make irregular 
forms is a little more difficult. Even if we 
can accomplish no'more than to have two of 
the pieces attached, so that the workman 
can perform two operations on them, while 
the stuff is right in his hands, it is quite a 
saving. This gable-end piece, you see below. 



GABLE-END TO CHAFF-niVE COVER. 



You will notice, that each piece has a 
tapering cut at each end ; that it has a bevel 
at the lower edge ; and that it has a hole 
bored through it. To pick it up and lay it 
down for each of the four operations, espe- 
cially if you are one of the awkward kind 
that have to turn around and stoop over 
every time they lay a piece down and pick 
another up, requires a good deal of time. 
If we should take a piece of 3-inch plank, 
we could cut the tapers and bore the holes 
in at least sice pieces at once, for they need 
not be over I, and then we could saw off the 
pieces after all was done. But 3-inch plank 
is pretty expensive, because there is so little 
demand for it. If we can buy 2-inch plank 
at a low figure, it may do to use this; but 
even if we do, after boring the holes and 
cutting the tapers, we would better cut them 
in two in the middle first, so as to have 
about inch pieces, as you will see. Very 
likely it will be best to use your culls, so Ave 
will get out a piece of inch stuff planed as 
thick as it will work, 5 inches wide by 22i 
long. This piece will make 4 gable-ends, by 
running your saw through the dotted lines, 
as shown below. 

a mm a 




HOW TO MAKE THE GABLE-ENDS. 

Eirst we take off the corners, A, A ; then 
bore the holes ; next we cut from B to C 
and from D to E ; lastly, split them through 
the middle, and they are finished all but 
planing. The ventilating - hole should be 
about H inches in diameter, and should be 
covered with wire cloth, on the inside. It is 
never safe to omit these ; for the bees in a 
strong colony will exhale so much moisture 
as to cause drops of water to hang on the 
roof-boards, and large icicles to form in the 
winter. I have wintered bees in the chaff 
hives, without the ventilating-holes,but was 
obliged to open them occasionally during 
very severe weather, to let the roof and cush- 
ions dry out. 

ONE-STORY CHAFF HIVE. 

A chaff hive is also made one story high, 
so as to receive a Simplicity body for the up- 
per story. Of course, this would receive a 
Simplicity cover, and any of the arrange- 
ments used on or in the Simplicity hives. 
While I do not consider them equal to the 
regular chaff hive, they are quite an advan- 
tage over the unprotected Simplicity hive, 
especially when a good cushion is put in the 
upper story. 



HIVE-MAKING. 



126 



HIVE-MAKING. 



FRAMES FOR HIVES. 

The frames to fit the hives I have describ- 
ed, era 17| hy 9|. I took these dimensions 
from a frame Mr. L. sent me several years 
ago, in answer to an application to him for 
a frame of the dimensions he would prefer. 
Although some of the frames in common 
use, called the L. frame, differ somewhat 
from these dimensions, yet the frame will 
fit the greater number of hives in common 
use, known as the L. hive. There is some 
difference of opinion in regard to the com- 
parative merits of fiames with metal sup- 
porting-arms, and those having the top-bar 
prolonged at each end, so as to form a sup- 
port. I decidedly prefer those with the 
metal bearing, as being more easily 
handled, even at the risk of having them 
slip about once in a while, when we do not 
want them to. I want a frame so " mov- 
able " that it can be picked up at any time, 
with one hand even, in spite of all the pro- 
polis the bees can fasten to its attachments 
to the body of the hive. The all - wood 
fiames have considerably the advantage in 
cheapness, and they can be got up on short 
notice, with very little machinery. 

It is a very important thing to have all 
our frames, as well as our hives, exact in 
size; and to insure this, we have gauges 
made for each separate part. We formerly 
used wooden gauges; but after long use, Ave 
find there is danger of inaccuracy from the 
shrinking and swelling by changes of weath- 
er, or loosening of joints by use, and we 
have, therefore, decided on steel gauges, 
which Aye make of a cheap carpenters' 
squares, such as are to be had at almost any 
hardware store. The stops are made of 
brass, and are put on with rivets, as there 
is always more danger of a solder joint giv- 
ing way than of a riveted one. The draw- 
ing beloAv Avill make it all plain, I think. 



in, and we really need the very best straight- 
grained pine for our frames, both brood and 
section, that we can get. For the metal 
corners, the lumber is to be planed just | of 
an inch ; after trying frames with the bars 
of almost all widths, 1 think I Avould prefer 
this to any other width. Square the end of 
your board Avith the cut-off bar, and then 
set the parallel bar at such a distance that 
the pieces cut off will be of such length, as 
to just push in between the stops on your 
gauge. Do not say, when you have it near- 
ly right, "That is near enough," but have it 
just as nice a fit as it can be ; then you can 
go on cutting up your boards, Avithout any 
fear of inaccuracy. For metal - cornered 
frames, you have only to cut off two lengths; 
the longest for tops and bottoms, and the 
shortest for ends. If you are making the 
all-wood frames, the top-bars are to be li 
inches longer than the bottom - bar. This 
alloAvs a projection of I of an inch, for the 
frames to hang on. This I think as great 
a length as Ave ever need, and I do not think 
i it advisable to try to get along Avith anything 
less, if we Ayish to avoid the effects of propo- 
lis in bee-hive manipulations. A bee can 
pass freely through an opening of i of an 
| inch; but if it is much less, he is disposed to 
bridge it across with propolis ; if it is much 
greater, combs will be built in the space. 
For these reasons, comb -frames are usually 
separated from the sides of the hive, about 
I of an inch. Well, if Ave do not want the 
bees to fill up the rabbet with propolis, Ave 
must have a channel for them to Avalk in, 
about this width; and f outside of the rabbet, 
added to the f inside, gives us just £ for the 
projecting arm. 

I Avould put the frames together, at the 
corners, with the grooving-saws, such as we 
use for section boxes. In the £ stuff, I 
AA'ould have four grooves and four tenons, 
as shoAvn behnv. 



GAUGE FOR FRAME-MAKING. 

The plate on the end is put on that end of 
the square that reads one inch, thus enabling 
us to read the dimensions in inches, at the 
same time that AA T e are trying a piece of 
board to see if the length is right. One side 
of the square gauges the top-bar, and the 
other side, the bottom-bar. The notch in the 
side gives the length of the end-bars. For 
frames, we use box lumber that costs about 
$30.00 per M. A cheaper quality would an- 
swer, and we might work cull lumber to 
quite an advantage, Avere it not that there 
Avould be great danger of bad pieces getting 



This Avork is very rapidly done with four 
saAvs having collars between them, to sepa- 
rate them just the right distance. The 
boards, when cut up into lengths, are then 
run over them, being held at the right depth 
by gauging the height of the saw - table. 
Where the four saws are not at hand, this 
grooving may be done, but of course not as 
rapidly, with a single saw cutting one 
groove at a time. To get the distance just 
right, a blade, or track, is set in the table, 
by the side of the saw, just large enough for 



HIVE-MAKING. 



127 



HIVE-MAKING. 



the grooves to slide over. The first groove 
is cut by running your boards against the 
side of the track, as a gauge, and the next, 
by running the groove on the track, and so 
on. This method is more liable to inaccura- 
cy than that with the four saws, yet very 
nice work can be done by means of it, and 
we are not limited to any size of stuff, or 
material. Section boxes, or boxes for a va- 
riety of purposes, may be made with this 
kind of dovetailed corners, with great facil- 
ity. Great care should be used, to have the 
stuff held closely down to the table, that it 
may be all grooved to the full depth. An 
ordinary saw, with the teeth set very wide, 
will answer for this grooving ; but a thick 
saw made on purpose, ground thinner in the 
center, so that it may be sure to clear well, 
is much better. Cutter-heads will do for a 
small amount of work; but having only two 
teeth instead of many like a saw, they are 
so quickly dull that I would much prefer 
the saw. Tor the metal-cornered frames, I 
would have all the corners made as above; 
the grooving in the top of the ends is to be 
made a little deeper, to accommodate the 
extra thickness of the top-bar. The top- 
bars, we rip off 5-16, the ends and bottom- 
bar, 7-32. The bottom-bars would do just as 
well i, were it not that heavy combs are 
sometimes made to rest on them, as in trans- 
ferring, etc. For the wired frames, shown 
on page 56, 7-32 will be heavy enough all 
around, the comb-guide being omitted. 

Where the frames are made all of wood, I 
would make them as in the cut shown. 




If they are made so as to drive together 
just right, it gives a very stiff frame, and 
but a single nail is required to fasten the 
corner. Care should be taken that the neck 
on the ends of the top-bar is not cut too 
deep, else the projection may be in danger 
of breaking off at the narrow point. The 
neck should be so made as to have about 
7-16 of the wood left ; this will allow the 
mortises to be just 7-32 deep, and the same 
in width. We make these with a grooving- 
saw, with a cut-off saw, same diameter, 
clamped closely on each side of it. It is made 



in the boards before they are cut up. The 
mortise in the ends of the top-bars, we make 
by placing the four grooving-saws close to- 
gether, the washers being left on the out- 
sides. Cutting in the end of the wood is 
rather trying work for both saws and cut- 
ter-heads, and they will need sharpening 
often. Great care should be taken to have 
all these joints just right, for the strength 
and beauty of the frame depends on having 
them driven up as tightly as may be, with- 
out splitting the wood. The comb-guide, 
for both kinds of frames, we make of nice 
straight-grained pine, 9-16 wide, and just 
thick enough to fill closely the groove cut 
by one of these grooving-saws. This is a 
little less than i of an inch ; for you will re- 
member that four grooves and four tenons 
make just I of an inch. The groove is to be 
exactly in the center, and t deep, and is, of 
course, made in the end of the board before 
the pieces are ripped off. The top-bar is al- 
so to be grooved on the under side, its 
whole length. Below we show you a section 
of both top and end bars, with the groove to 
hold the comb-guide. 




As the comb-guide is 9-16, and the cut in 
the end-bar f, we have 3-16 left for whole 
wood in the top-bar, as at A, and the table 
should be so set as to leave just this amount 
of wood uncut. 

Even if the fdn. is fastened in the frames 
with melted wax, as many do, I would have 
such a comb-guide, because it adds so much 
to the strength of the frame, and obviates 
the necessity of having a very heavy top-bar. 
The bees will, in time, build their combs 
right over such a comb-guide, and use the 
cells above the brood for honey. 

HOW MANY FRAMES IN A HIVE? 

You will remember that the width of the 
Simplicity hive inside, as well as the lower 
story of the chaff hive, is just 14i inches. 
Well, this space is just right for ten frames, 
bringing them a trifle less than 11 inches 
from each other, from center to center. 
After we have our frames placed in the 
hive, and spaced with the eye and fingers, 
so as to have about the same amount of 
room for each frame, we are to consider 
what is to be used to keep the bees down on 
the frames, and to prevent them from build- 
ing their combs clear up against the cover, 
and fastening the latter down with propolis. 



HIVE-MAKING. 



128 



HIVE-MAKING. 



AVHAT TO COVER FRAMES WITH. 

This is a very important matter, and one 
that r.ir.st be carefully attended to, or there 
will be no end of " troubles." If the bees 
get up under the cover they will daub the 
whole inside with propolis, waxing all joints 
and crevices, and making it almost impossi- 
ble to lift the cover without jarring and en- 
raging them. They will also use this space 
for a loafing-room, if no surplus boxes are 
on, when we want every bee down amid the 
brood-combs. Worst of all, when the cover 
is replaced, bees will be sure to be in the 
joints, where they will get crushed ; and 
when you have to kill bees in opening and 
closing your hives, you will very soon dis- 
cover that there is something radically 
wrong somewhere. Cloth sheets and quilts 
have been used for the past few years, and 
in many respects they are far ahead of the 
honey-boards formerly used. For the past 
two years I have recommended and used 
enameled cloth, with a strip of tin folded in 
the ends. This has given excellent satis- 
faction, but two faults have developed with 
its use. In time, it gets soft by the damp- 
ness of the hive, and then the bees gnaw 
holes in it as they do in the duck. The next 
is. that it is hard to make it stay in its place 
and perfectly close the top of the hive, un- j 
less we use the tin ends mentioned; with 
these it can not be folded up so as to cover ' 
a smaller colony, and it is awkward to use 
with the division - boards now so generally 
employed. I have just now (March, 1879) 
devised the mat shown below. 




MAT FOR COVERING THE FRAMES. 

The great beauty of it is, that while it can 
not shrink so as to let the bees out at the 
ends or sides, it can be rolled back, folded 
smaller, and adapted to the varying sizes of 
the hive with a division-board, even better 
than any cloth. After it is placed so not 
a bee can get above it, as it is nearly level 
with the top of the hive, every bee that does 
not get off can easily be brushed off and 
made to go in at the entrance. The strips I 
are of basswood, and are 1-16 by i inch. 
They are woven in a loom, with hard hemp 
twine. 

In cool weather, or in winter, the chaff 
cushion is always to be used over this mat, 
for it is not to keep the bees warm, but only 



to keep them clown, and to protect the cush- 
ion above it.* 

HOW TO USE THE WIDE FRAMES OF SEC- 
TION BOXES. 

For the one-story hives, you have nothing 
to do but to just hang the frame of sections 
in the hive. The separators, of course, will 
be turned toward the brood, and this will 
serve to keep the bees from putting pollen 
in the section-combs, as well as to keep the 
queen out. I have never seen any pollen, or 
any eggs, carried into a frame of sections, 
where separators were used. 

Although you can get nice honey from a 
one-story hive, I would not, as a general 
thing, recommend them ; because almost 
any swarm of bees will very soon need more 
room; and if it is not furnished, they will be 
pretty sure either to swarm or to lie idle, 
for want of it. With the extractor, we can 
get along very well with one story, for we 
can extract the honey ; but we can not well 
take off the sections until they are capped 
over ; and when the two frames are full and 
ready to cap, the bees will have little or 
nothing to do. This is why I would have a 
two-story hive. If you have the upper story 
filled with sections, I do not know that there 
is any particular advantage in having any 
sections in the lower story at all ; for, after 
the bees once get to working well above, 
they will, as a general thing, rather neglect 
the lower ones. Different colonies work 
differently in this respect, but side-storing, 
unless in hives with taller frames than the 
L., has been pretty generally abandoned. 
You will remember that the Simplicity hive 
is 14± inches wide, and that the wide frames 
to hold the sections are 2 inches wide ; 
therefore 7 of the latter would fill the hive 
into about i of an inch. Well, as we wish 
the tin separators to lie as flat and smooth 
as possible, we will wedge up in this i inch, 
to bring the seven frames as closely together 
as possible, and then, when the wedges are 
removed, we can get out the first frame of 
sections without any trouble. As the tops 
of these frames are tight together, we shall 
have no occasion to use the sheet of enam- 
eled cloth, and this may be laid away until 
the season of surplus is over. It is true, the 
bees will get above through this i-inch space 
where our wedges are put, but we will stop 
this by a thin slip of wood, similar to our 
comb-guides, only a little longer. Only two 
wedges are required to hold the wide 






*Sept., 1880.— After a more extended trial of both 
mats and enameled sheets, I greatly prefer the lat- 
ter, especially where bees are to be handled much, 
as in queen-rearing. 



HIVE-MAKING. 



129 



HIVE-MAKING. 



frames tight up to each other, and these are 
toward the middle, just opposite the up- 
rights of the section boxes, between the sep- 
arators and the sides of the hive. The dia- 
gram below will illustrate it. 




HOW TO WEDGE UP THE FRAMES OF 
SECTIONS. 

A and B are the wedges. When they are 
withdrawn, you can pry over and lift out the 
frame, almost as easily as aiiy brood-frame, 
and the operation of taking out the honey is 
a very easy and a very simple one indeed. 
At first thought it seems a little singular 
that the sections are much easier to take 
out when filled than when empty ; but such 
is, nevertheless, the case ; for they are then 
rigid, solid blocks, instead of the frail 
structures which were put in. 

PAINTING THE HIVES. 

After the hive is nailed, the nail - heads 
should all be set in slightly with a suitable 
nail-set, and then I would advise going over 
the corners and all rough places, with a 
keen and sharp smooth-plane, set so as to 
cut a very light shaving. After this, rub off 
all rough places with some sandpaper and a 
block, and you are ready to give it a priming. 
This priming may be simply boiled linseed 
oil, or boiled oil and ocher, or something of 
that sort. Cheap red paint is said to hold 
better than any other color; but, for the 
sake of avoiding the consequences of exces- 
sive heat, I would avoid all dark colors, 
even for a priming ; for somebody might be 
careless, and let the paint wear off until the 
priming showed through, and then, if the 
heat of the sun should strike right on the 
hive, the little fellows might be made very 
uncomfortable, to say the least. I once had 
a brown hive which got so hot that it melted 
the combs, and let the honey run out in 
front. I painted it over white, and had no 
further trouble, although I allowed it to re- 
main in the sun as before. I once was quite 
a friend to a kind of chemical paint; but, 
since having a larger experience, and test- 
ing pure white lead by the side of other 
kinds of paint, I have come to the conclu- 
sion that the pure lead and linseed oil is much 
the nicest and most durable, besides being, 
probably, as cheap, in the long run, as any 



thing else. Instead of putting on a great 
many coats of paint to commence with, I 
would paint lightly at first, and then give 
them another coat, as often as it will im- 
prove their looks or durability. Do not go 
j by fits and starts in fixing up your apiary, 
! but keep fixing all the time, and keep it nice 
all the time. Perhaps the better way to 
paint and fix up is to lift the combs out, and 
set them into a hive all rigged and painted, 
and then, after that one is fixed, carry it to 
the next, and so on. This plan is very 
convenient where the hives need a nail or 
two, which could not well be put in while it 
contained bees. I do not think fresh paint 
is especially offensive to bees, nor do I think 
new swarms are often driven off by the 
smell of paint, but I should prefer to have 
the hives dry, before the bees are put in. I 
have often painted hives containing bees, 
without perceiving any bad results, except 
that the bees sometimes stick fast to the 
newly painted surface, which is certainly 
annoying to the poor little fellows, if noth- 
ing more. 

CONCLUDING REMARKS ABOUT HIVES. 

Work carefully, and avoid mistakes and 

blunders by carefully measuring, trying, 

and testing every thing, as you go along. 

| Do not get a lot of hives nailed up, and 

then discover that the frames will not go in 

them properly, but have a frame right at 

hand, and, before you drive a nail, put the 

| frame in place and see if it is right. More 

j than this, be sure that your frame is just 

right. Many bad blunders have resulted 

from picking up a frame supposed to be 

j right, but which was found to be a little too 

j large, or too small, in some of its dimen- 

j sions, after a lot of hives were made to 

j match it. Have a good steel square, and 

i keep it carefully, that it may not get out of 

j true, or get rusty or injured in any way. 

j To test its exactness, lay it on a broad 

i straight-edged board, and 'draw a fine line 

! along the blade Of the square, with a keen- 

! pointed knife; then reverse it, and see if the 

knife - point runs in the same track. The 

drawing below will show you how. 




HOW TO TEST A SQUARE. 

Let A, A, represent the board with the 
straight edge. Do not say, " This edge is 
straight enough," until you have made it as 
exact as you can. Lay the square on as at 



IIIVE-MAKLNG. 



130 



HIVE-MAKING. 



B, and draw the line, D E, with your knife 
point ; now turn it over as at C, and draw a 
line in the same place, or so near it, that you 
can readily see if the two are exactly paral- 
lel. You can take your board to the hard- 
ware store, and pick out a square that is 
right, or you can get the one that is nearest 
right, and then make it right by filing. 
Another point : you will find squares with 
the marks on one side not exactly agreeing 
with those on the opposite side. This is a 
very bad fault indeed. Our blacksmith and 
foreman once had quite a dispute on some 
iron gauge-frames, and, when the matter 
was investigated, it was found the square 
given the blacksmith varied a 32d of an inch 
in the way I have mentioned. Further in- 
vestigation showed we had but one square 
on the premises that exactly agreed on both 
sides. Now. when you go to buy a square, 
look otd. 

When you get a square that you know you 
can "put your trust in, 1 ' go ahead, but work 
carefully. Say over and over to yourself, 

when starting out, "Suppose I should find, 
after I get these done, that they are all 
wrong;"' and so measure and try your work, 
at every step. It is just as easy to cut 
boards in the right place, as it is to cut them 
in the wrong one ; and it is just as easy to 
have all the different parts of your work 
nice and accurate, as it is to Avaste your 
time by careless bungling, and then trying 
to patch up the consequences of your own 
awkwardness. I know, for I have made a 
great many awkward mistakes in my life, 
and I also know, by experience, that one so 
awkward and careless that he, at times, 
almost feels as if there were no use in trying 
to be a mechanic, or hardly any thing else, 
for that matter, can learn to be careful, and 
to do nice work. I also know the thrill of 
pleasure that rewards one after lie has suc- 
cessfully fought these besetting sins, and 
come out triumphant. Once more, be care- 
ful ; work slowly, until you know your work 
is all right; have your tools all nice and 
sharp; keep every thing piled up in neat 
order ; look pleasant, be pleasant, and thank 
God every day for being a great deal kinder 
to you than you deserve, while you ask him 
to help you overcome these besetting sins. 



an exact thickness ; and as this is almost an 
impossibility by hand, I think we would 
better take it to a planing -mill. Even 
should you conclude to plane your stuff by 
hand, these same directions will apply all 
the same. Our chaff hives were all planed 
by hand, in every part, the first year we 
made them. With a hand-saw and square, 
you can cut up the lumber very well; but if 
your time is valuable, and you have 25 col- 
onies of bees and a prospect of more, you 
will most assuredly save money by having 
some kind of a foot-power circular saw. On 
this account, all the directions for making 
the Simplicity hive were specially adapted 
to the foot-power saw. To be sure that I 
was in error nowhere, I stood over one of 
the workmen while he made a complete 
hive, with the saw r we use. If you really de- 
sire to make a hive with a hand-saw and 
plane, etc., you are to cut your stuff up just 
as I directed. Straighten one edge with a 
jack-plane, in the good old way (beg pardon; 
if this sounds sarcastic, I tried not to have 

I it); then with a gauge, mark out the width of 
your boards, saw them out with a hand rip- 
saw, and plane down to the line. When 
this is done, with a plane and bevel-square 
dress off one corner until you have the de- 
sired bevel for the bottom edge of the 
boards. The rim to go around under the 

! cover can be dressed out in the same way. 

: The shoulder that we made on the top edge, 
to exclude wind and rain, can be cut very 

! nicely after the hive is nailed up, with a 
plane-bit ground on a grindstone until it 
will cut the desired shape. Saw the boards 
off in a large miter-box. You can do it, 

i and you can make nice work, but it will pay 
you just about as well as it will to mow a 40- 
acre field with a scythe, when you can get 
your neighbor's mowing-machine for a trifle, 
to do the whole quickly and nicely. 34 



MAKING HIVES BY HAND. 

You can make your hives of lumber that 
is not planed at all; but as this is necessari- 
ly of all kinds of thicknesses, I can hardly 
think you, or any one else, could afford such 
hives, If we plane it, it should be planed to 



SECTION HONEY-BOXES. 

ALL ABOUT 31AKING THEM, AND SOME OTH- 
ER MATTERS. 

The best material which we can obtain in 
this locality for honey-boxes is nice, white, 
clear-grained basswood. It should be sawed 
into planks, about 24 in. thick, that it may 
be full 2 in. when seasoned. Such lumber 
is worth here, at present, $16.C0 per M. Aft- 
er the lumber is seasoned, it is ready to be 
planed, and, for the sides of the sections, 
should work full 1£ in. As the tops and 
bottoms are i less in width than the sides, 
they may easily be made from ordinary 2-in. 
stuff. As the cigar-box planer just men- 



HIVE-MAKING. 



131 



HIVE-MAKING. 



tioned is hardly heavy enough to plane these 
planks, we will use what is called the 18-in. 
Gem planer, shown in the following cut. 




18-INCH GEM PLANER. 

These small planers have astonished us by 
the beautv and accuracy with which they do 
their work, and the small amount of power 
with which they may be run. Our machin- 
ist said he did not think Ave could plane a 16- 
inch board with a 4i-horse-power engine; 
but with only 40 lbs. of steam, we cut a full i 
inch from the hardest and knottiest board 
we could find, and the planer did not even 
slack its motion. As the machine cost us, 
all belted and ready for work, only $70.00, 
we were very agreeably astonished. A two- 
horse - power engine would run the planer 
very well, if a light cut at a time were made. 

After your planks are all planed, you are 
to cut them up into pieces convenient to 
handle. We usually make them from 3 to 
4 ft. long. With a heap of these near your 
buzz-saw table, you are ready to saw them 
into strips. These strips are sawed of such 
a thickness that, when planed, they will be 
just about 5-32 in. thick. 

When we used to make our sections of 
sawed strips without planing, some of our 
friends complained because our sections 
were grooved a little deeper than the 
thickness of the stuff; this was done, be- 
cause, in sawing, we can not get the stuff 
all exactly of a thickness, and we were 
therefore obliged to make the dovetailing 
deep enough to take in the thickest pieces, 
otherwise we should have the thick pieces 
increasing the outside dimensions of the 
box, and this might prevent a nice fit inside 
of the large frames. The only remedy was 
to have the stuff planed to an exact thick- 
ness; and although we often thought of 
this, we as often decided that they could 



not be made, nicely planed all over, for one 
cent each, or less. Finally our sawyer 
startled me by asking why we could not 
have a little planer, to take long strips right 
from the buzz-saw, and plane them auto- 
matically. Sure enough ! Why not ? 

I soon found that there was a little planer 
made, called a cigar - box planer, and, ere 
long, we had one planted just back of the 
saw. I give you an engraving of it below. 




CIGAR-BOX PLANER. 

This little machine does its work most 
beautifully, and requires so little power for 
the planing of these pine strips, that, in the 
absence of other power, one man with a 
crank would probably run it without troub- 
le. After we got it well started, our saw- 
yer, who is an intelligent mechanic, ex- 
claimed,— 

"Why, Mr. Root, I would almost work for 
nothing, if I could have machinery that 
would all run as nicely as that little planer 
does." 

The strips, as they come out, are most 
beautifully smooth, for these small planers, 
as they come from the factory, are all sharp 
and in working order, without so much as 
even furnishing a belt. The best part of it 
is, the strips are exactly of a thickness. Eor 
the usual section boxes, they are sawed 
about 2 inches in width, or a little more, 
and in length, to suit your pleasure. 

We will suppose you have ripped off and 
planed about 100 of these thin strips ; 101 is 
just the number, to be exact. Shake out the 
shavings, place the planed surfaces all one 
way (we do not want the sections planed on 
their inner sides, because the bees could not 
so readily attach their combs) and then screw 
them up in screw-clamps like the cut below. 



Nj* 



-,:.■ 



CLAMP FOR MAKING SECTION BOXES. 

These clamps are made to compass just 
16 inches. Below we give you a drawing of 
the bundle of strips, with a clamp screwed 
on them, at about every 4i inches. 



HIVE-MAKING. 



132 



HIVE-MAKING. 




BUNDLE OF STRIPS FOR SECTIONS. 

Well, this plank, as it were, composed of 
the 101 strips, is to be placed on the saw-ta- 
ble, and sawed into bolts or bundles, 4i in. 
long, one of the clamps coming near the 
center of each. These are now to be run 
over the gang of grooving - saws, and they 
are finished. 




tin separators between them, will just make 
II inches. The Simplicity hive is Hi inches 
inside, and we shall therefore have the i inch 
to wedge up the frames of sections. When 
they are to be removed, take out the two wedg- 
es and the first frame can be lifted out 
easily. (See p. 129). The tops and bottoms 
of the sections are I inch less than the sides. 



1 * 1 


1 











BUNDLE OF PIECES FOR SECTION BOXES, AS 
THEY LEAVE THE SAWS. 

These bundles each contain 101 pieces. 
I would insist on this exact number, to save 
mistakes that will creep in, if you have any 
odd number ; for the figuring with fraction- 
al parts of a hundred necessary to put up 
an order, may amount to more than the 
goods are worth, and even then, expensive 
mistakes will happen. One season, a bee- 
keeper away in Iowa informed us, just 
about swarming - time, that his box of 1000 
sections was lacking cither sides or tops, and 
it cost us several dollars to make the matter 
straight, express and all. ]Sow if we always 
have 101 in a bundle— the odd one is to be 
sure to make good count — and then make 
our packing - boxes so that 20 bundles will 
just fill them, our shipping clerk cannot well 
make a wrong count. They are put up ready 
to ship, in boxes of £00 each. But, he may 
give us too many tops, and not enough bot- 
toms. That is true, and it reminds me that 
the pieces for the tops are to have a thin saw- 
cut exactly in the center, the whole length, 
before they are screwed up in the bundles. 
Well, now, to fix it so he can not make a mis- 
take, we will put in each of the bundles of 
narrow pieces, 51 grooved, and 50 without 
the grooves. Then, in packing, he is to get 
10 bundles of the wide side-pieces, and 10 
bundles of the narrow ones, and the pack- 
ing boxes are to be made so as to hold just ! 
these and no more. As to the thickness of 
the strips, I would set the planer so that 101 j 
pieces just fill the 16 - inch frame when j 
screwed up close enough to hold. You can 
tell this best by trying; and after you get 
your planer just right, make a mark, so that i 
you can set it in just the same place again. ! 
I said the width of the strips should be a lit- 1 
tie less than 2 inches ; we want them so that I 
7 of them close up side by side, with the 7 | 



ONE-POUND SECTION BOX COMPLETE. 

The cases for holding the sections, as 
well as the wide frames, are made with 
the same tools, and much in the same way. 
Instead of 101 in a bolt, we have just 50, so 
they are twice as thick as the section stuff. 
The bottom-bar is made exactly like the bot- 
tom-bar of the sections, grooving and all. 
The top and sides are the thickness of a 
sheet of tin wider than the sides of the 
sections. This makes them come tight 
against each other, when wedged up in the 
hive. Below we show you a bundle of fin- 
ished top-bars, and also one of the side-bars. 




bundle'of top-bars. bundle of end-bahs. 

The grooves in the sides of ■ the top-bars, 
and the one in the ends of^the side-bars, are 
cut with a cutter-head, to be described fur- 
ther on. The broad grooves in the side 
bars are for the purpose of, bringing the tin 
separators into just the right place, and for 
letting them in flush with the'wood, that the 
frames may come up tight. Where the tin 
comes between the frames, and separates 
them but a trifle, the bees will fill in the 
crack with propolis. We wish to stop all 
this so far as we can. The cut of the frame 
below will give you an idea of the way in 
which the separators are put on. 




WIDE FRAME TO HOLD 8 SECTIONS, AND 
TIN SEPARATORS, 



HIVE-MAKING. 



133 



HIVE-MAKING. 



The tin is so cut, that, when a i fold is 
made on each end, it can be just snapped in- 
to the notches at A and B. They can be 
used without tacking; but those we ship are 
tacked fast with four slender brads. The 
tin should be stretched on the frame, to pre- 
vent its bulging and making depressions 
and elevations in the comb honey. 

The shallow notches are very quickly 
made in the bolt of end-bars, with a common 
rabbet-plane. To guide it in the exact spot, 
and to have it cut the notches of the proper 
width, a frame of strips of board is placed 
over the bolt which guides the plane. 




FRAME FILLED WITH SECTIONS OF HONEY. 

A great many, at first view, ask why we 
do not use solid plank, and rip off the strips 
after having done the grooving, etc. The 
great reason is, that we should be obliged to 
rip off these little pieces one at a time, and 
then handle them singly to plane, and tie 
up. With the plan I have given, we rip and 
plane 10 or 12 pieces in a strip ; when bun- 
dled up, we cut off 100 at once. This means, 
100 cuts one way, and 10 the other, 110 in all, 
make 1000 pieces ; by the other plan, the 
workman would have to make 1000 move- 
ments. This system of working in wood 
can be used in making boxes and frames of 
almost every description, and for a great va- 
riety of woodwork, where great numbers 
of pieces are wanted exactly alike and at a 
very low figure. 

Now, about grooving the ends of the pieces, 
or the dovetailing, as it is frequently called. 
A while ago I told you how to saw one or 
two grooves at a time, by means of a steel 
track parallel with the saw, on which the 
first groove runs as soon as it is sawed, as a 
guide for the rest. This plan does very well, 
but it is slower, and not as accurate, as when 
we have a gang of 8 saws to cut the whole 
number at once. The saws we use are 4£ 
inches in diameter, and about 3-32 in thick- 
ness. They are run by steel washers be- 
tween them, that gauge the tightness with 
which the sections fit together. If they are 
too loose, a washer of thin paper put between 
them will make them tighter. The saws 
are sharpened like a rip-saw, but they have 
no set. They get dull very quickly, for cut- 
ting constantly in the end of the wood is 
very severe on saws. A Si or 4 inch belt 



will be required to run these saws, and the 
pulley should be not less than Si inches in 
diameter. The shaft should be about 1 inch 
in diameter, and should run in broad strong 
boxes; it may be fin., where the saws go 
on. As these saws must cut always the 
same width, exactly, it is best to run them 
without set ; and to make them "clear" in 
this shape, we have them ground thinnest 
in the center. Such saws 41 inches in diam- 
eter are worth about $2.00 each; a steel 
washer 50c more; and a suitable mandrel 
and boxes, $10.00. Therefore the whole out-* 
fit, with 8 saws, will cost about $30.00.; T 
confess, I am not very well pleased with any 
of the grooving arrangements I have ever 
used. They answer very nicely at first, it 
is true, but they need so much tiling or 
grinding, that it is quite a task. They all 
work nicely running with the grain, or 
across the grain, but cutting into the end of 
a block seems to be a different matter. 
If we wish grooves and tenons more than 
i, say 3-16, the Barnes cutter - head is an 
improvement. These require sharpening 
frequently, it is true, for they are like a saw 
with but two teeth ; but they clear so nicely, 
it is really a pleasure to work with them 
Perhaps I should say, when they are in prop- 
er cutting order ; for neither a saw, cutter, 
nor any thing else is pleasant to work with, 
unless it is sharpened just as it should be. 
It is no use to say you cannot sharpen a saw, 
for you must do it, or you are not fit to be a 
bee-keeper. Perhaps I can help you a little. 

PUTTING CIRCULAR SAWS IN ORDER. 

We will take the cutter - head for an il- 
lustration, for it embodies nearly all the 
principles involved. 




CUTTER - HEAD FOR GROOVING SECTION 
BOXES. 

The point, or spur, D, is, of course, to cut a 
little ahead of the chisel-shaped cutter, C, 
and is to gauge the exact width of the 
groove, while C follows after, and takes 
out a shaving of wood. Now, suppose the 
tool be so carelessly ground that the heel, B, 
is higher, or, rather, further from the hole in 
the center than the cutting edge, C; it is 
very plain that the heel would only rub on 
the wood, get hot, and make things smoke, 
without doing any cutting at all. At about 
this stage, the operator of the foot-power 
saw is in danger of losing his temper; es- 
pecially if he has tired himself out, and 
J 



HIVE-MAKING. 



134 



HIVE-MAKING. 



worked himself into a perspiration, without j 
stopping to examine into the matter. To 
illustrate, I will give a letter that Barnes '■, 
Bros, wrote us, after one of our customers 
had complained of his cutter-head. 

We mail you this day the cutter-head that Mr. 

returns by our request, for our examina- | 

tion. He has ground it, or sharpened it, from the 
outside, and spoiled it of course. It should be ground I 
or sharpened from the inner edge. Please put it on 
the saw and you will see that the edgre is ground j 
down so that the part back will not let it cut; hence j 
the jumping- he spepks of. You will also see that it [ 
h is never been sharpened on the inner edge, the j 
temper color has not been removed. We would as I 
soon tell a man not to hitch to the tongue of a wagon, 1 
aft"r sollin? him one, as tell him not to grind j 
th"S" cutters on the outer edge. You will find, on 
grinding back and allowing the edge to be the high- i 
est, as it was originally, that this same cutter will 
beat the best saw (especially when gauged), cutter, 
or groover you can get. We like fair play, especially 
when things are so plain as to need no explanation. 

If you have time, we would like you to write him, 
and, after g; hiding the cutter properly, return it to 
him to convince him. W. F. & John Cannes. 

Hnckford. 111., Sept. 11, 1877. 

That the above is somewhat harsh, I am 
aware : but I have given it you to show that 
1 think there is blame on both sides. Our 
friend was thoughtless, it is true; but had 
the cutter been sent him, ground just as it 
should be, at first, he would have succeeded 
and been pleased; and if it afterward got 
out of lt rig," he would have known the 
fault was not in the construction of the im- 
plement. I have purchased much machin- 
ery, and. I am sorry to say. but little of it 
lias been in really nice working trim when 
fust received. The planers I have men- 
tioned were a pleasant surprise in that res- 
pect, for they were almost as sharp and keen 
as a razor, and every part was as carefully 
in order as if the maker had fitted it up for 
his own use. If all kinds of machinery were 
sent out in just this shape, it would save 
ever and ever so much trouble and bother, 
and hard words and feelings all round. I 
know it costs money to do this, and I know 
it is hard to find a man who will take pride 
in having everything just right, no matter 
what the cost may be ; but it should be done. 
There will be no difficulty in getting a price 
to cover all expense, after the work has once 
earned a reputation. 

The cutter-head was received, as it was 
stated. The blue on the steel showed that 
no file or stone had ever touched it on the 
inner edge at A, but our friend had ground 
the outside, in the manner stated. I took 
the tool to one of our hands who runs saws, 
explained the matter, and desired him to fix 
and try it, As it did not cut very well, I 



stopped it and looked, and behold he had 
not even taken the blue from the steel on 
the inside. 

Friend Barnes, I fear there are a great 
many thick-headed people in this Avorld, and 
I sometimes haA r e reason to think I am 
"chiefest" among them. Then what shall 
we do V I guess we shall have to make 
every thing very plain, and I guess our tools 
would all better be sharpened just right, be- 
fore they are sent out, and then purchasers 
will certainly know how they should be. 

Messrs. Barnes Brothers have just sent us 
a pair of their improved cutter-heads. 
They are of much nicer finish than their old 
ones, and there has been some grinding done 
on the points of the knives ; but neither of 
them are ground as they should be to make 
the best speed in cutting. I think the gen- 
tlemen will excuse these criticisms, for I 
have always found them very ready to adopt 
any improvement or suggestion I may have 
made, if a good one. We owe them a vote 
of thanks already, for having made such 
great reductions on the prices of almost all 
kinds of foot-power machinery. The spurs 
on the cutters sent were too long, and they 
were of such shape that the block of wood 
was shaken while being grooved ; when they 
are made so as to be thin sharp blades, cut- 
ting about the thickness of a sheet of paper 
into the wood, in advance of the chisels, 
with the steel ground back so as not to bump 
or rub against the sides of the finished 
groove, your block will stand as steady as if 
no cutting were being done, and your groove 
will be beautifully smooth and clean. Best 
of all, so little power will be required to do 
the work, that you will hardly, know the tool 
is cutting. I know, for I have just stopped 
my writing an hour, to be sure I could make 
them go. As I have said before, we use 
saws instead of these cutters, because, with 
the constant work we have for them, they 
would require sharpening so often. A saw 
has 50 teeth or more, where these tools have 
but two, to do the work. 

When I have occasion to use the foot- 
power saw, I almost invariably find it needs 
oiling. I can not afford to waste my strength, 
in trying to run a saw that does not run free. 
I found to-day, that some rubbish had been 
allowed to get under the treadle, so that it 
did not come clear down. When this was 
fixed, I found the hickory spring did not 
bring the treadle clear up. After I had 
turned the spring over, the treadle came 
clear up promptly, and I could get up a 
speed that would make a cutter, saw, or any 



HIVE-MAKING. 



135 



HIVE-MAKING. 



thing else "hum." It really makes me ner- 
vous, to see one who knows what the saw 
can do, try to work by giving the treadle a 
series of short stamps, as if it were an unru- 
ly sewing-machine. If you are going to spin 
a top, you must draw off the cord with a 
"full-arm movement;" and if you are going 
to do work with the Barnes saw, you must 
draw off the strap from the fly-wheel ^in the 
same way ; let the treadle come up as far as 
it will, and then send it clear down to the 
floor. If you practice doing this, you will 
very soon not only have the whole machine 
under your thumb, but you will have it un- 
der your foot, which is still better. You are 
now all right, if your saw is sharp and well 
set. 

Jttemember. the extreme points of the teeth 
are to do the work, and no power can be 
spared in making the saw rub or squeeze 
through the lumber. No part of the saw I 
should ever touch the lumber, except these 
extreme points, and they are to be of such 
shape, and so disposed, that they pare off : 
just enough to let the saw through, and ! 
nothing more. If you stand a chisel straight j 
up on a plank, and draw it across it, it may j 
scratch the wood some, but it will not cut it 
smoothly. If you try pushing it forward at ; 
different angles, you will find there is a cer- 
tain position in which it will make a smooth 
cut. This is about the angle we wish to 
give the teeth of a rip-saw. There is a rule I 
for getting this pitch, which you will under- j 
stand from the diagram below. 




Mr. Washburn that my saw would not cut 
well, and he, with a straight-edge showed 
me just how badly I had been doing. I had 
commenced in a hurry, and had filed the 
saw just to make it do a little for the time 
being ; I had filed both top and front of the 
teeth to get them to a point "real quick." 
Piling a saw on the top of the teeth is a 
fearful waste of time, files, and especially 
saws. Perhaps I can give you some faint 
idea of the matter from the cut below. 



HOW SAWS ARE WASTED, BY IMPROPER 
FILING. 

Let A be the point of the tooth when the 
saw is new; and C,the point Avhere it would 
be after having been used for a certain 
amount of work, the filing having all been 
done on the under side of the tooth so as to 
leave the line A C just as it was when it 
was made ; that is, it has been untouched by 
the file, and has only worn away, in actual 
cutting on the wood. The saw has been re- 
duced in this way by this amount of work, 
exactly from D to E. Bear this in mind. 
Now suppose we have done the sharpening 
by filing the top of the tooth ; in getting the 
same amount of cutting edge, we should file 
down from A to B. This would reduce the 
size of the saw from D to F, instead of from 
D to E. For filing these small saws from 6 
to 10 inches in diameter, we need a file made 
at just the proper angle like this cut. 



1 



SAW, IMPROPERLY FILED. PROPERLY FILED, j 

Let H represent the center of the saw, and | 
F the circumference ; G is a line drawn just j 
midway between the center and circumfer- 
ence. Now, if a straight-edge is held against | 
the under side of the tooth, it should lie on j 
the line G. Hold your try-square on the j 
under side of the tooth of your rip-saw, and j 
you can soon see if the teeth are of the right 
pitch. On the other side you will see 
some teeth with a wrong angle. Some of 
them would carry a line toward the center 
of the saw, and one of them would go past 
the center on the other side. You need not 
say no one ever did as bad work as that, for 
it is not many years since I complained to I 



The broad side of the file is to be laid on 
the top of the tooth ; it is never to be used 
for cutting downward,! but only to preserve 
the shape and angles of the top of the tooth, 
while the cutting is to be done from the un- 
der side of each tooth, the top of the tooth 
being made while sharpening the one just 
after it. 

So much for the shape of the tooth ; our 
saw must be set, or it will not clear itself 
through the lumber; and for this purpose, 
we have found the saw-set shown, as good 
as any thing for circular saws. 

The diagram below will give "you an idea 
of the purpose of setting saws. 

a A. 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF SETTING A SAW. 

You will observe that we depend on the 



HIVE-MAKING. 



136 



HIVE-MAKING. 




:f.T FOR h 



ACK. HAND, WKB, WOOD, 
AM) S.MAI, I, CIKOUIjAK SAWS, NOT THICKER 
TIHN 18 GAUGE. 

little points, A and B, to make a path along ■ 
the dotted linos, for tin- blade. II' these I 
points get worn off, the saw will pinch, and | 
a great part of the power will be consumed 
in making it squeeze through the wood. If 
your saw does not cut easily, this is very 
likely the trouble. If your lumber is un- 
seasoned or tough, yon will need much more 
set than it yon have dry clear tender him- \ 
her. Of course, we wish to get along with 
as little set as we can consistently, for the 
more wood we cot out, the greater is the 
power required. Now, another considera- 
tion comes in. If we do not set the teeth all 
alike, and it is almost impossible to do this 
with any saw-set, on account of the tenden- 
cy of some teeth to spring more than others, 
we shall have occasionally a tooth sticking 
out more than the rest; this causes much 
friction, and makes our lumber look bad 
with grooves plowed in it atintervals. 
For large saws, a side-file is used ; but for ! 
our work, I think we can level off the points 
very well with an oil-stone. Lay the stone 
on your saw table, against the side of the 
saw, and turn the saw backward by hand. 
Now be sure you do not trim the points too 



much, and that you do not hold your stone 
so as to make the points wedge-shaped. 
When done rightly, your saw should cut 
smoothly and easily, and the stuff should 
look almost as if it were planed. 

In the drawing, I have given about the 
right angle for the face of the tooth. The 
point should be almost square, like the end 
of a chisel ; but as the outside corner has by 
far the greatest amount of work to do, it 
should be kept a trifle higher. If you give 
the point of the tooth a very sharp bevel, 
the saw will leave a point in the 
wood like this, at A ; and if the saw 
is crowded, the teeth will spring 
outward somewhat, as shown in the dark 
lines, making a great amount of friction, 
and rough and unsightly work. Have plen- 
ty of good files at hand, and touch up the 
teeth of your saws often, if you wish to ac- 
complish the most, with the least amount of 
hard work. 

The above directions are all for rip-saws. 
A crosscut saw is filed with a 3-cornered 
file, and needs but few directions different 
from those already given. As it is alw r ays 
used across the grain, it will work best to 
have it sharpened so as to leave the point A, 
as shown in the cut, for this will break off 
itself. The outer points of the teeth are to 
be kept very sharp, and are to be leveled up 
with the oil-stone, so they all cut in the 
same path. The saw must also be set 
enough to clear itself, in all kinds of lum- 
ber. If you wish to cut up boards that are 
not perfectly seasoned, you will need to set 
your saw accordingly. You can, with the 
Barnes saw, cut off a foot board at one 
clip, if every thing is all right. Ours is sel- 
dom in order to do this, I know ; but if I 
were going to use it, I would keep it in just 
such order. The grooving-saws for section 
boxes are to be sharpened like the rip-saws. 

SPEED OF CIRCULAR SAWS. 

In regard to the speed of circular saws, 
much depends on the power to be applied, 
and the material to be cut. As a rule, we 
may say that the teeth should move at the 
rate of about 8000 feet per minute. By get- 
ting the diameter you can easily figure out 
the number of revolutions per mimqe. 

Now, I know from past experience that a 
great many of you will say you can not in- 
vest in all the machinery I have described, 
but that you would still like to make your 
own hives, section boxes, etc., having plenty 
of time in the winter. AVell, I think I can 
do something, for even this class. Wait 
and see. 



HIVE-MAKING. 



137 



HlTE-MAKlNGf. 



HOME-MADE SECTION BOXES. 

Some of our friends, among whom is Prof. 
Cook, have succeeded very well with sec- 
tion boxes made of the thin veneer used for 
strawberry-boxes. The stuff is simply fold- 
ed around a square stick of wood, of just 
the size you wish your section frames. The 
ends are fastened by tacks, which are quick- 
ly clinched, by driving the points against a 
piece of iron or steel, set in the wooden 
stick at the proper place. These boxes are 
of a necessity of the same width all round, 
and therefore I can hardly see how the bees 
can get in, unless the frames holding them . 
are hung a little distance apart. If we do ' 
this, how shall we use the separators? I 
am sure I do not know, unless we have our 
honey bulging outside of the wood ; in this 
case we could not pack them in a shipping- 
box, nor set the sections up close together; 
they are also rough and unsightly. The 
bottom-bars might be trimmed narrower 
with a chisel, or something of that sort, but 
this woidd not give a neat accurate job, nor 
could it be done as cheaply as in the sections 
I have described. 



fore?" That was what I thought when Mr. 
Gray showed me his new joint for sections and 
other boxes, illustrated on this page. You 
will at once notice that the principal ex- 
pense in making this joint is the labor in- 
volved in pushing the piece over the saw to 
make each one of these cross-cuts. 




MACHINE FOil JS1AK1NU THJfl NEW 
ONE-PIECE SECTION BOXES. 




M 



gray's section box, made 
[t is now Feb., 1880, and we have just suc- 
ceeded in perfecting the machinery for mak- 
ing a modification of the box mentioned 
above, which is not only stronger and neater 
than anything else yet devised, but, with the 
proper appliances, as it seems, is destined 
to be the easier box to make. The engrav- 
ings will make it plain, almost without 
explanation. 

GRAY'S SECTION BOX, AND THE MA- 
CHINE FOE MAKING IT. 

How often do we exclaim, on seeing some 
new device or implement, " Why, is it pos- 
sible that no one ever thought of that be- 



AEL OF ONE PIECE OF WOOD. 

I said at once, that we must have a long 
mandrel, with three saws on it, that the 
whole number of cuts may be made at ope 
operation. Again, the piece must be push- 
ed toward the saw exactly at right angles 
with it, or the box will be askew, as it were. 
To push it accurately, a slide with a cross- 
bar at right angles must be used. Now, 
every time this bar is pushed forward, it 
must be pulled back ready to take another 
piece, although the section need not be pull- 
ed back at all. Years ago, I thought of an 
endless belt with strips across it, for feeding 
stuff up squarely to circular saws, but just 



HIVE-MAKING. 



13S 



HIVE-MAKING. 



now it occurred to me that a large drum, 
with pins set in it, might answer the same 
purpose, and need not be very expensive. 
My idea was to have the. strips lie directly 
on the drum, as they passed under the saws; 
but Mr. Gray and Mr. Washburn thought it 
best to have the drum simply push the strips 
along, and let them slide on iron tracks, 
with steel springs to hold them firmly down 
in place. After they got so far, I told them 
I wanted it made so it would take a tall pile 
of the strips, and pick out the bottom one, 
letting the pile drop down each time, so as 
to have an automatic machine that would 
"work for nothing, board itself, and not re- 
quire any mental or moral discipline; 11 in 
short, a machine that would not have to be 
looked after nights, to see that it was not 
visiting groceries, and learning to swear, 
smoke, chew, etc., after working hours. 
Come to think of it, I did not add these lat- 
ter items when I ordered the machine made, 
but I will put them in now, so the machine 
will understand what is expected of it. It is 
now buzzing away while I write; and by 
timing the " zip, zip, zip, 11 by the watch, I 
find it makes just 30 sections a minute- 
handsomer white basswood sections than I 
ever saw before in my life. 

You observe the long mandrel with its 
three saws, and the funnel-shaped hood just 
over them. This hood is attached, by a pipe 
which you see at its top, to our blower, or 
exhaust- fan, which takes all the sawdust 
right out of the way, that the machine may 
not get clogged, and that the troublesome 
dust from the basswood may not render the 
air in the room unwholesome and disagreea- 
ble to the workmen. All of our saw-tables 
and planers are now arranged so as to have 
the dust and shavings all carried, automat- 
ically, right down into a brick room just be- 
fore the boiler. The large drum that pushes 
the sticks through the machine explains 
itself, in the drawing. Right back of the 
dust-hood is the box that holds the pile of 
sticks, or slats, and the iron arms shown 
right in front catch the pieces as they come 
out from under the saws. The saws which 
we use for cutting the groove are made with 
two cross-cut teeth and then one rip tooth, 
and so on clear around. Such saws, made 
of the right thickness, will cost one-half 
more than ordinary saws. 

To get out stuff for these sections, you 
want the best white clear basswood. Have 
the logs sawed into plank 2£in. thick. After 
the plank have been stuck up and seasoned, 
they are to be dressed on both sides until 



they are just 1 15-16 in. We choose this thick- 
ness, because 7 frames of them, with the 
separators on, just fill a Simplicity hive, and 
leave i in. for wedging up. After the plank 
is dressed, it is cut up into bolts just 16|in. 
long. With a cutter-head to cut 3i in., wide 
cuts are now made in these bolts of plank, 
at the proper places to make the top and 
bottom pieces narrower, so as to let the bees 
pass through. These cuts are about i in. 
deep. If you want closed-top sections, only 
one cut is made instead of two. The end of 
each bolt is now dovetailed with the gang of 
saws, precisely as in the old way, except that 
one end of the plank is made so as to match 
with the other end, that the section, when 
rolled up, may exactly C3me together. This 
being done, the bolts are ready to be ripped 
into strips. The thickness is to be such that, 
when planed on one side, they are a plump 
eighth of an inch. They are now ready for 
the machine as described above 3 \ 

IIOW TO FOLD THE SECTION UP. 

This is a very simple matter when you 
once know how; but without having it ex- 
plained, you might bother with it a long 
while, and then not get a decent section. In 
the first place, the machine makes it so that 
j the top and bottom are to come between the 
j two sides. Lay the piece flat on the table, 
with the rough side up ; take hold of either 
j one of the sides, or the pieces that are to be 
| sides when they are folded up, press the end 
hard against the table, and at the same time 
raise it so as to make the thin wood bend 
\ close up to the end of the stick. Do the 
I same with the other side, and you will have 
| the two dovetailed ends just ready to be 
driven together with a light mallet. Should 
! you, by carelessness or inexperience, break 
a joint, it can be nailed with the smallest 
wire nails, and will look almost as well as if 
it had not been nailed ; but, after you learn 
how, not one in a hundred need be broken. 
This corner is a remarkably strong and beau- 
tiful one, and it is adapted not only to honey- 
: sections, but also to a vast variety of other 
[ purposes. 

If folded together in glue, it is like the 

solid wood ; and, if you will give me your 

attention for a little while, I will tell you 

j how to make all kinds of boxes of wood, on 

j a few modifications of this plan. 

Suppose, when we are setting the saw to 

| rip off the strips from the bolts of plank, we 

J should put another saw on the same arbor, 

tight up against the usual one ; but suppose 

this second saw to be so much smaller that 

it just reaches £ in. above the table-top when 



HIVE-MAKING. 



139 



HIVE-MAKING. 



the large saw goes through the plank. This 
small saw would cut, in the plank, a narrow 
rabbet, and, when the strip is ripped off, the 
rabbet is in the strip. Well, when the box 
is finished and folded up, the rabbet is there 
still, clear around the inside, and it is exact- 
ly what you want for a shoulder for a thin 
bottom to rest on, if cut just right to drop 
into it. Drop it in with some glue on the 
edges, and you have a strong, solid bottom, 
halved in. 

It has taken no extra motions or labor to 
make this rabbet, for that small saw did it 
of itself. How shall we manage to get a 
rabbet to drop the cover in, in the same 
way, and still have no extra motions to get 
it ? Put a similar saw on the opposite side 
of the large saw, and turn the bolt end for 
end, each time you saw a piece off. This 
comes pi etty near it, but it would leave the 
rabbet for the cover around the outside of the 
box. Now just hold your breath right where 
you are, and I will tell you what to do. Set 
the saw on the back side, a little away from 
the large saw, by a collar, and then you will 
have a rabbet on the inside, around both top 
and bottom. In putting the box together, 
use glue for the bottom, but none for the 
cover, only to glue a strip of cloth along one 
side, to answer as a hinge. Instead of a 
cover of wood you can use one of glass, and 
then you can tell what is in the box, without 
being obliged to open it. 

May, 1884.— We have now sold over three 
millions of these one-piece sections, and at 
present writing, the demand is beyond the 
supply. The machine for making them has 
been improved, and now appears as below. 



The upper part of the machine, as seen in 
the cut, is a sort of magazine, as it were, for 
holding the blanks for making the sections. 
Instead of the drum shown in the old ma- 
chine, a sliding table pushes the blanks 
under the saws, one at a time. The opera- 
tor has only to keep the magazine full of 
blanks, and take the finished sections as 
they come out of the machine, and pack 
| them in boxes holding 50u each. The rod 
' shown in the foreground enables the opera- 
| tor, by means of the foot, to raise the weight 
; that presses the blanks down when replen- 
I ishing the magazine. The handle at the 
left of the machine enables him to stop or 
start the sliding cariiage. In practice, it is 
, found that this carriage must be attached to 
i the pitman by means of a spring, to avoid 
the effects of a shock occasioned by one sec- 
tion getting above another, or crosswise. 
I The spring allows the machine to go on 
without any thing being broken or injured. 
; The carriage is kept oscillating by a small 
1 crank on the upper end of the vertical shaft, 
! kept in motion by an endless screw on the 
horizontal shaft, working into a toothed 
wheel, on the vertical shaft. 

OBSERVATORY-HIVES. 

Before closing the subject of hive-making 
it may be well to speak of what is called the 
I observatory-hive, used more as a curiosity, or 
! study, than for any practical purpose. 





GRAYS IMPROVED MACHINE FOR MAKING 
SECTIONS. 



G-I/ASS OBSERV A TORT-HI V E . 

The picture will almost make it plain of it- 
self. If I am correct, the idea of an observ- 
ing-hive was first invented by Mr. Langstroth. 
and mine was made after the dimensions giv- 
en in his book, which I here copy as follows, 
giving all dimensions in inches : 

Base-board, 24% x i}& x %. An entrance-hole,'.?*, *is 
bored 3 1 i inches deep into the end, and two holes;are 
bored in its center, 7 8 in diameter and.l's from cen- 
ter to center, the wood being- cut out between them. 
Bottom of hive,l2&x 18^x7*. Make a rabbet at 
both upper corners, :; 8 on x 7-16 deep. Start a 5 S 
hole, 1 in. from the end, and bore slanting-,[to meet 
entrance-hole, and make a hole in the center to 
match entrance-hole, for a ventilator, and, cover 
with wire gauze on the inside. Front and rear of 



IIIVE-MAKING. 



140 



HIVE-MAKING. 



hive, I 1 ix2 , ixl8 7 a. Rabbet the inner corners, up 
and down, J 4 x %; make a ventilator in each piece, 
like the bottom; % from the upper ends, cut in % ; 
and % from the lower end, cut in %. Side-strips, % 
x 1 x20^ s . On one corner of each, rabbet on &, and 
in ?s for the glass. Movable cover, 21? s xi l . k x '». 
holes may be made in this cover, over which glass 
receptacles for honey may te placed. Glass, two 
panes, 9»/ 2 xl8; 2 . Aligh ting-board, 4 x 4 J 4 x %. The 
clamps on base-board, i% x 2 x > 2 . Clamps on cover, 
and ledges on hive, 4 pieces, 4 l . t x 7 3 x ' 2 . 

You see, it is simply a one-comb hive, made 
so as to hold a single L. frame. The two 
sheets of glass are just 1| in. apart, and, with 
a nice frame of comb built out on wired fdn., 
it makes a pretty sight to set in the window. 
With a moderate number of bees in the hive, 
the queen is always to be seen, either on one 
side of the comb or the other. To put the J 
hives in place, raise the window enough to i 
let the bottom-board catch over the window- j 
sill ; then let it down, placing a strip of wood 
on each side, so as to close the openings. The 
way to get bees into it is to take a frame of 
hatching bees from any hive, with all the ad- 
hering bees and queen. If you choose, you 
can let them rear their own queen ■ but it 
works a little nicer, and they stay better, to 
take the queen with them. The hole in the 
cover is to place a feeder over. When they 
get their comb so full of honey and brood 
that it will hold no more, you will have to ex- 
change it for an empty comb, or for a frame 
of wired fdn., or they will swarm out. Mr. 
Langstroth speaks of having two in one win- 
dow — one having a laying queen, and the oth- 
er a queen-cell in process of construction. I 
hardly need say, these one-comb glass hives 
succeed only during warm weather. One 
reason why these hives have not been much 
used of late, is that our simple hives with 
metal corners make it so easy to open any 
hive, and take out a frame, without disturb- 
ing the queen in her duties, that each hive is 
itself almost an observatory-hive. 



in regard to making hives with saws run by 
foot-power are quite inadequate to the wants 
of the present time. 

TABLES FOU CIRCULAR SAWS, DRIVEN 1!Y 
POWER, FOR HIVE-MAKING. 

While a foot -power saw does very well 
for making, say one hundred or even more 
hives a j ear for one's own use in his own 
apiary, when it comes to making hives for 
his neighbors, or, perhaps, to ship off to 
distant customers, almost every one soon 
finds it too laborious to be pleasant. It is 
true, he can hire help ; but I believe it is 
generally a pretty hard matter to find help 
with the necessary enthusiasm to be willing 
to tread a buzz-saw many houi s in the day. 
The owner of the bees will do it, I know, and 
thrive on it, for that matter, especially when 
fighting his way to making a start in the 
world ; but most people during this present 
age will very soon want to bring in the aid 
of steam, or something else, to do the work 
of bone and muscle. 

Now, it is almost always suggested by a 
new hand, that steam or other power be ap- 
plied to the foot or hand power machine. 
This can be done, it is true ; but as a rule it 
does not in the end prove satisfactory, for 
the reason that all foot-power machines are 
of necessity made just as light and easy run- 
ning as they can be consistently, and are 
therefore not calculated for much more strain 
than the power of a man. If you put on a 
horse-power or two they will quickly wear 
out, or break down. What you want to 
stand a horse or steam engine, is something 
like the cut below. 



It is now May, 1884, and many things in 
the bee busiiuss have developed far bsyond 
my greatest anticipations. Especially is 
this the case with hive-making. Simplicity 
hives are now made and shippt d by tl.e car- 
load from many points in the United States, 
and they are also beginning to be used ex- 
tensively in many foreign countries. AVe 
have sent large shipments to the Sandwich 
Islands, New Zealand, and other remote 
points of the world. The chaff hive has also 
obtained great favor in cold climates, or 
where difficulty is experienced in wintering 
bees. Well, in view of all this I have been 
led to feel that the directions I have given 




BUZZ - SAW TABLE FOR HIVE - MAKING BY 
TOWER. 

The table is made of 4x4 hard-wood scant- 
ling, say maple or ash. The sticks are sized, 
and the "wind" taken out of them, and 
then the whole is put together with mortise 
and tenon, and drawn up tight with lag 
screws I in. in diameter, by 6 in. long. The 
table is 48 in. wide, and 42 in. long. It is 



HONEY-COMB. 



141 



HONEY-COMB. 



made of hard-wood boards securely screwed 
fast to four bars of hard wood about 2x2. A 
bar is placed at each end, and the other two 
at equal distances under the middle. The 
table-top is hung on hinges at the further 
end as it stands in the cut; and at the end 
nearest us, in the picture, it rests on hinged 
strips, resting in mortises, as shown. Set- 
screws fasten the table at any desired height. 
Strips of iron should be let into the wood 
where the points of the set-screws strike, or 
the wood will soon be injured and mashed 
up. In the drawing, two gauges are shown. 
We term these tbe "figure four" and the 
"parallel" bar. The former is for cutting 
off stuff, and the latter for ripping. 




"PARALLEL BAR" GAUGE. 

This is to be made of the best piece of 
seasoned maple or cherry you can get. It 
needs about a 3x4 scantling, one foot longer 
than the table-top. Rabbet out a piece as 
shown, to make a bearing for the bars of 
iron that it swings on. These bars are iron, 
lxi, pivoted at each end with heavy screws. 
They allow the bar to swing clear up against 
the saw and back away from it, far enough 
to cut off the cover of a Simplicity hive, 
which is in length 20i inches. To fasten 
this parallel bar securely at any point, a 
third iron bar, C, is placed between these 
two. Instead of being screwed fast to the 
parallel bar A, it is simply slipped over a 
steel pin driven into A. There are, in fact, 
two of these pins, at a distance of perhaps a 
foot apart. This is to keep the adjusting 
bar always at pretty nearly a right angle to 
the parallel bar. Now, this strip of iron has 
a long slot in it, and a thumb-screw D goes 
into the slot. By this arrangement it will 
be noticed that the parallel bar can not 
swing or move, unless the thumb-screw lets 
the slotted bar slide under it. By tightening 
the screw, the parallel bar is a fixture at any 
point, and it is always parallel to the saw, 
when once adjusted as described on p. 115. 




THE " FIGURE FOUR " GAUGE. 



This hardly needs explanation. That it 
may slide easily, and without shake, it runs 
on an iron track. This iron track is simply 
a straight bar, i inch square, screwed fast 
to each of the strips on the under side of the 
table-top. It is made of hard-wood stuff 
about | thick. The longest piece, which is 
grooved to run over the iron bar, is exactly 
the length of the table. The right-angled 
piece is two feet long. All are about 4 inches 
in width. This right-angled piece must be 
so adjusted as to cut boards off exactly 
square ; and when right, it should be screwed 
down and braced with iron, as shown, so it 
can never get racked out of true. On the 
accuracy and fineness of this adjustment 
depends all your work. If one could afford 
it, it would be a fine thing to have the whole 
table-top, and all of these gauges, of planed 
iron. 

The mandrel used for these saw-tables is 
our $7.00 one, generally ; but for a great 
deal of work I would advise the heavier one, 
costing about $10.00. A still better one, 
with united boxes, and self-oiling attach- 
ment, is worth about $14.00. 

nOW TO MAKE A CUT-OFF SAW -TABLE. 

Where the bee-keeper has but little to do 
in the way of hive-making he may cut boards 
on the same table that he uses for ripping. 
But in order to work this way, he must 
have somebody to hold the end of the long 
boards while he cuts them up, or have some 
sort of a support on which they will slide 
over easily. 

When I used to make all my own hives 
with a single saw-table, and my saws were 
run by a windmill, as some of you may re- 
member, fused to have the farther end of the 
board slide on a smooth rest made of a piece 
of hard wood. With this 1 could take a 16- 
foot board, and, without any assistance, cut 
it up into pieces long enough for hives or 
covers, and have them so exact that, when 
piled up, no difference in the length could be 
told by passing the fingers over the ends. 
Now, while I could do this day after day, 
and really enjoy the work, I could not find 
any one who would do it for me. If I set a 
couple of boys at it, the one with the other 
end of the board would move it too fast or 
too slow, or by jerks, in such a w T ay as to 
have the pieces, when cut off, of unequal 
lengths. Then we tried cutting the board 
up first into pieces long enough for two or 
three lengths for hives ; and then as these 
pieces were short enough to handle, it was 
an easy matter to cut them up into exact 



HIVE-MAKING. 



142 



HONEY COMB. 



lengths. This, of course, took a great deal 
more time; and even then the hoards would 
not he cut squarely across. The reason was, 
that although the edge of the board might 
he held closely up against the figure four, 
unless at least one side of the board was per- 
fectly straight, like a straight-edge, before 
being cut up, we found trouble after we got 
through. 

There is a way, however, in which a board 
can be cut up into accurate lengths, even if 
its sides are not straight. Fix a straight- 
edge of steel (nice hard wood may do) back 
of the saw just far enough away to get the 
length of board wanted. Hold it hard up 
against your figure 4 and cut off a board once, 
squarely across. When you have done this, 
hold the square cut hard up against the steel 
straight-edge. Now push the board along 
on the top of the table up against the saw, 
watching carefully to see that the end is a 
perfect fit against this steel straight-edge. 
In this way you can cut up a whole board and 
have the pieces exactly of the same length. 
But woe betide you if you are so careless as 
to leave a crack on either edge, even if it be 
not more than a hair in thickness. You see, 
we want the boards so accurate that where 
there are two stood up together on a smooth 
surface, neither eye nor finger can detect 
any difference in the length. In making 
frames for the hives, this is a most important 
matter ; indeed, I have had nothing in the 
whole department of hive-making that has 
caused me so much trouble as this matter of 
getting hands who would cut stuff perfectly 
accurate. Many times I could have cried 
about it (if you will excuse a little exagger- 
ation), had I thought it would do any good. 

We are now ready to consider what may 
be done by the use of machinery, for en- 
abling even unskillful hands, or, perhaps, 
hands who have never been shown the im- 
portance of accuracy in mechanical work, so 
that they may do work and be exact. When 
at the Exposition at Cincinnati, last fall, I 
saw some beautiful iron tables having a pair 
of saws. These saws could be adjusted at 
any required distance from each other ; and 
to cut off the board it was pushed against 
the saws while moving on a carriage of iron. 
This, you will see, made it next to impossi- 
ble to have boards cut either too short or too 
long ; but the two cuts every time, made a 
small waste of lumber. 

Below we give you some engravings of 
the cut-off tables we use in our own factory. 
I don't know whether exactly the same de- 
vice has ever been used before or not. 




A SAAV-TABLE FOB CUTTING OFF STUFF. 

No. 1 shows the table ready for work, and 
No. 2 the same with top elevated, which can 
readily be done to take off saws, etc. It oc- 
curs to me just now that our artist has made 
a mistake, and drawn a rip-saw where he 
should have shown a cut-off or cross-cut 
saw, as it is sometimes called. The table is 
made of 4x4 seasoned maple. On the top 
are placed three cast-iron V-shaped tracks 




THE SAME WITH TOP RAISED. 

The sliding top runs on these tracks on 6 cast- 
iron wheels having a V-shaped groove in 
each. This, you will observe, makes the 
sliding top of the table so that it moves to 
and fro with great ease, yet without a bit of 
end shake. At a first glance one would al- 



HIVE-MAKING. 



143 



HIVE-MAKING. 



most think this sufficient ; but if you were 
to lay a 16-foot plank on this sliding table- 
top, and take hold of the end, you would find 
it would have a considerable twist, or " wig- 
gle," on its center. This twist would, of 
course, prevent cutting off the boards ac- 
curately. Now to make the table rigid 
where it stands, and still bear sliding to and 
fro, we have what is termed a rocking-shaf t. 
This is a cast-iron shaft about 2£ inches in 
diameter. Don't make it any smaller, 
thinking it will do. Better have it larger, if 
any thing. On this shaft is a pair of rigid 
cast-iron arms, as you spe in the cut. At 
the top of each of these arms, short iron bars 
are bolted; and these bars are attached to 
the movable table -top. Now, providing 
these bolts all work closely, we have secured 
our table so that no twist is possible, unless 
the shaft should twist. But a 2£ iron shaft 
can not be expected to do this very much. 
A handle is attached to the sliding top, as 
you will see in the cut, for drawing it back 
easily. We have two of these tables in use 
—one about 10 feet long, and the other 
about 8, and they are in use almost constant- 
ly. Of course, an iron gauge which can be 
adjusted at any required distance from the 
saw is a great help for cutting different 
lengths of lumber. And as before, your 
stuff must be held tight up to this gauge. 
Such a table, well made, ought to cost per- 
haps $15.00 for the short ones, or $50.00 for 
the long ones, as described above. If made 
as we have directed, it should, with a man- 
drel of proper size, be capable of carrying a 
12 or 14 inch saw, and should cut up heavy 
planks used for chaff -hive corners, or such 
as will be required for slicing up w r ood into 
separators, or any similar work. Where inch 
boards are to be cut, or any thing thinner, 
we pile them up until we get as many as the 
saw will reach through. By this means we 
cut three or four, or even more, where the 
lumber is thin, at one cut, and one person 
handles it all easily. 

Before closing the subject of buzz-saws, I 
wish to mention that a great many hand and 
foot pow r er buzz-saws have been improvised, 
and some of them have done very fair serv- 
ice. Below we give a sketch of one suggest- 
ed by one of our juvenile bee-keepers, and 
the letter that accompanied it. 

A HOME-MADE HAND-POWER BUZZ-SAW. 

I see in father's Gleanings a sketch of a home- 
made circular saw. I thought I would give you a 
drawing of one I have made. I use a 12 and 18 inch 
saw, 1-inch mandrel. The cog-wheel I got from an 
old fanning-machine, and the speed-wheel I got 
from an old hand corn-sheller. The machine saws 



all our firewood, besides hive-making. I find it a 
useful machine. A. W. Beardmore. 

Annapolis, Maryland, Nov. 18, 1882. 




The above machine will answer an excel- 
lent purpose, I know, for we used one of 
Barnes' hand-rippers in our establishment 
for several years. Even though tw r o men, 
with a couple of good sharp carpenter saw r s, 
might do nearly as much work in cutting and 
ripping, they could not possibly do as accu- 
rate work. With the above machine, rigged 
with the gauges described, a couple of boys 
would do the amount of w r ork that men 
would, and it would be more accurate than 
an expensive carpenter with try-square and 
smooth-plane could possibly make it. I have 
no doubt but that the boys would cut up 
double the firewood they could with the or- 
dinary hand-saw, as our young friend de- 
scribes. 

I almost forgot to add, that all kinds of 
buzz-saw r s are dangerous. Since we have 
been in the business, several different boys 
andmen have lost a large part of one hand, by 
letting it slip against a saw while in mo- 
tion. If you w r ork with buzz-saws, be careful! 

HOBa , £'H"-G©MB. Everybody knows 
that the cells of the honey-comb are 6-sided, 
audi presume most people know why they 
are 6-sided. If they were square, the young 
bee would have a much more uncomfortable 
cradle in which to grow up, and it would 
take a much greater space to accommodate 
a given number of bees. This last would, 
of itself, be a fatal objection ; for to have 
the greatest benefit of the accumulated ani- 



IIONEY-COMB. 



144 



HONEY-COMB. 



mal heat of the brood, they must be closely 
packed together. This is not only the case 
with the unhatched bees, but with the bees 
of a whole colony in winter ; when each bee 
is snugly ensconced in a cell, they occupy 
less room than they could by any other ar- 
rangement. 36 

If the cells were round, they could be 
grouped together much in the same way as 
they are now ; viz., one in the center, and 6 
all around it, equally distant from the cen- 
tral one, and from each other, like the cut, 
in the figure, A ; but even then, the circles 
will leave much waste room in the corners, 
that the bees would have to fill with wax. 




B A 

WHY THE CELLS OF THE HONEY-COMB ARE 
MADE G-SIDED. 

At B, we see the cells are nearly as com- 
fortable for the young bee as a round one 
would be— of course, I mean from our point 
of view, for it is quite likely that the bees 
know just what they need a great deal bet- 
ter than we do— and, at the same time, 
they come together in such a way that no 
space is left to be filled up at all. The bees, 
therefore, can make the walls of their cells 
so thin that they are little more than a silky 
covering, as it were, that separates each one 
from its neighbor. It must also be remem- 
bered that a bee, when in his cell, is squeezed 
up, if we may so term it, so as to occupy 
much less space than he otherwise would ; 
and this is why the combined animal heat of 
the cluster is so much better economized in 
winter, when the bees have a small circle of 
empty cells to cluster in, with sealed stores 
all around them. 

But, my friends, this is not half of the in- 
genuity displayed about the cell of the bee. 
These hexagonal cells must have some kind 
of a wall or partition between the inmates 
of one series of cells, and those in the cells 
on the opposite side. If we had a plain 
partition running across the cells at right 
angles with the sides, the cells would have 
flat bottoms which would not fit the rounded 
body of the bee, besides leaving useless 
corners, just as there would have been, if 
the cells had been made round or square. 
"Well, this problem was solved in much the 
same way, by making the bottom of the cell 



of three little lozenge - shaped plates. In 
the figure below we give one of these little 
plates, and also show the manner in which 
three of them are put together to form the 
bottom of the cell. 





IIOW r THE BOTTOM OF THE CELL IS MADE. 

Now, if the little lozenge plates were 
square, we should have much the same ar- 
rangement, but the bottom would be too 
sharp-pointed, as it were, to use wax with 
the best economy, or to best accommodate 
the body of the infantile bee. Should we, on 
the contrary, make the lozenge a little long- 
er, we should have the bottom of the cell 
too nearly flat, to use wax with most econo- 
my, or for the comfort of the young bee. 
Either extreme is bad, and there is an exact 
point, or rather a precise proportion that the 
width of this lozenge should bear to the 
length. This proportion has been long ago 
decided to be such that, if the width of the 
lozenge is equal to the side of a square, 
the length should be exactly equal to the di- 
agonal of this same square. This has been 
proven by quite an intricate geometrical 
problem ; but a short time ago, while get- 
ting out our machine for making the fdn., 
I discovered a much shorter way of working 
this beautiful problem. 




In the figure above, let A, B,C,D, represent 
the lozenge at the bottom of the cell, and 
A,C, the width, while B,D, is the length of 
said lozenge. Now, the point I wish to 
prove is, that A,C, bears the same proportion 
to B, D, that the side of a square does to the 
diagonal of the same square. 

THE MATHEMATICS OF THE HONEY-COMB. 

Suppose we have a cubical block, E,B,C,G, 
F, and that we pile small blocks on its sides 
as shown, so as to raise pyramids of such an 
inclination that a line from any apex to the 
next, as from A to D, will just touch the 
edge of the cube, B,C. Now A,C,D,B,is the 
geometric lozenge we are seeking. Its width, 
B,C, is equal to one side of the square, E,B, 



HONEY-COMB. 



145 





F, H, for it is one side of the cube. Now to 
prove that A, D, is equal to the diagonal, 
E, F, we will use the diagram below. 

D 



A< 



Let E,B,F,H, represent the cube, and the 
dotted lines, the pyramids. If the pyramids 
are so made that the line, A,D, is a straight, 
continuous one, it is evident, by a little re- 
flection, that the angles, A and D, will be 
right angles. If this is so, A, D, is exactly 
equal to E, F, the point we were to prove. 
Now, referring to the former figure, if we 
should go on building these pyramids on all 
sides of the cube, we will have the beautiful 
geometrical figure called the rhombic do- 
decahedron ; it is so called, because it is a 
solid figure having 12 equal sides, and each 
side is a rhomb, or lozenge, such as we have 
described. Where the obtuse angles of 
three of these rhombs meet, as at C, we shall 
have the exact figure of the bottom of a 
honey-comb cell. A picture of the geomet- 
rical solid we have mentioned is given 
below. 




RHOMBIC DODECAHEDRON. 



HONEY-COMB. 

How does it come that the bees have 
solved so exactly this intricate problem, and 
know just in what form and shape their 
precious wax can be used, so as to hold the 
most honey, with the very least expenditure 
of labor and material? Some are content 
with saying that they do it by instinct, and 
let it drop there ; but I believe God has giv- 
en us something farther to do, than to in- 
vent names for things, and then let them 
drop. By carefully studying the different 
hives in a large apiary, we see that not all 
of them build comb precisely alike, and not 
all colonies are equally skilled in working 
wax down to this wonderful thinness. Some 
bees will waste their precious moments— 
and wax — in making great, awkward lumps 
of wax ; coarse, irregular cells ; crooked, un- 
even comb, etc., with very bad economy 
either for the production of brood, or for the 
storing of honey ; while others will have 
all their work so even and true, and so little 
wax will be wasted, that it is wonderful to 
contemplate the regularity and system, with 
which the little fellows have labored. Now, 
it does not require any great amount of wis- 
dom, to predict that the latter would, in a 
state of nature, stand a far better chance of 
wintering than the ones that were wasteful 
and irregular in their ways of doing things. 
If this be the case, those queens whose pro- 
geny were best laborers, most skillful wax 
workers, as well as most energetic honey 
gatherers, would be most sure to perpetuate 
themselves, while the others would, sooner 
or later, become extinct. I have found more 
of a tendency in bees to sport, or to show 
queer peculiarities, than in any other de- 
partment of the animal or vegetable king- 
dom. They vary in color, in shape, in size, 
in disposition, in energy ; and almost every 
colony, if studied closely, will be found to 
have some little fashion or way of doing 
things, different from all the rest in the 
apiary. Now, when we take into account 
the fact that many generations can be rear- 
ed in a single summer, we see how rapidly, 
by fostering and encouraging any desirable 
trait or disposition, the bees may be molded 
to our will. The egg that is laid by a queen 
to-day may, by proper care, be made to pro- 
duce a queen laying eggs of the same kind 
herself, in the short time of only 25 days, as 
I have explained heretofore. Well, if we 
should pick out a queen whose progeny 
made the thinnest comb, and rear others 
from her, doing tlie same thing for several 
generations, we would probably get bees 
whose combs would break down by the 



HONEY-COMB. 



146 



HONEY-COMB. 



weight of the honey. In a state of nature, 
this extreme would correct itself, as well as 
the other ; but the point I wish you to see is 
right here : Geometrical accuracy in the shape 
of the cells can never be overdone, and can 
be reached only by absolute perfection ; a n d th is 
absolute perfection, the bees have been constant- 
ly aiming at through endless ages. Is it any 
thing strange, my friends, that the bees 
have got the honey-comb pretty nearyl right 
by this time? I will give you a little story, 
and one which has been very interesting to 
me, from page 150, Vol. II., American Bee 
Journal.-' 1 

If a single cell be isolated, it will be seen that the 
sides rise from the outer edges of the three lozeng- 
es above mentioned, so that there are, of course, 
six sides, the transverse section of which gives a 
perfect hexagon. Many years ago, Maraldi, being 
struck with the fact that the lozenge-shaped plates 
always had the same angles, took the trouble to 
measure them, and found that in each lozenge the 
large angles measured 108-28', and the smaller 70°32', 
the two together making 180°, the equivalent of two 
right angles. He also noted the fact that the apex 
of the three-sided cup was formed by the union of 
three of the greater angles. The three united lozeng- 
es arc seen in the figure above. 

Some time afterward, Reaumur, thinking that 
this remarkable uniformity of angle might have 
some connection with the wonderful economy of 
space which is observed in the bee-comb, hit upon a 
very ingenious plan. Without mentioning his rea- 
sons for the question, he asked Koenig, the mathoma- 
tician, to make the following calculation: Given a 
hexagonal vessel terminated by three lozenge-shap- 
ed plates, what are the angles which would give the 
greatest amount of space with the least amount of 
material? 

Kcenig made his calculations, and found that the 
angles were 129 26' and 7(1 34', almost precisely agree- 
ing witli the measurements of Maraldi, The reader 
is requested to remember these angles. 

Reaumur, on receiving the answer, concluded 
that the lice hail very nearly s lived the difficult 
mathematical problem, the difference between the 
measurement and the calculation being so small as 
to be practically negative in the actual construction 
of so small an object as the bee-cell. 

A 70^32' 




Mathematicians were naturally delighted with the 
result of the investigation, for it showed how beau- 
tifully practical science could be aided by theoreti- 
al knowledge; and the construction of the bee-cell 
became a famous problem in the economy of na- 
ture. In comparison with the honey which the cell 
is intended to contain, the wax is a rare and. costly 



substance, secreted in very small- quantities, and 
requiring much time and a large expenditure of 
honey for its production. It is, therefore, essential 
that the quantity of wax employed in making the 
comb should be as little, and that of the honey 
which could be stored in it as great, as possible. 

For a long time these statements remained un- 
controverted. Any one with the proper instruments 
could measure the angles for himself, and the cal- 
culations of a mathematician like Koenig would 
hardly be questioned. However, Maclaurin, the 
well-known Scotch mathematician, was not satis- 
fied. The two results very nearly tallied with each 
other, but not quite, and he felt that, in a mathe- 
matical question, precision was a necessity. So he 
tried the whole question himself, and found Mural- 
di's measurement correct— namely, 109 J 28', and 70°32'. 

He then set to work at the problem which was 
worked out by Koenig, and found that the true the- 
oretical angles were 109 D 28' and 70°32', precisely cor- 
responding with the actual measurement of the 
bee-cell. 

Another question now arose. How did this dis- 
crepancy occur? On investigation, it was found 
that no blame attached to Koenig, but that the error 
lay in the book of Logarithms which he used. Thus 
a mistake in a mathematical work was accidentally 
discovered by measuring the angles of a bee-cell— 
a mistake sufficiently great to have caused the loss of a 
ship whose captain happened to use a copy of the same 
Logarithmic tables for calculating his longitudes. 

DIFFERENT KINDS OF CELLS IN THE HON- 
EY-COMB. 

The bees build two distinct, regular sizes- 
drone and worker cells. The worker-comb 
measures very nearly five cells to the inch, 
on an average. Some specimens average a 
little larger, and some a little smaller ; but 
when the comb is at all irregular, it is quite 
apt to be a little larger. The best specimens 
of true worker-comb, generally contain 5 
cells within the space of an inch, and there- 
fore this measure has been adopted for the 
comb foundation. 58 If there are five cells to 
the inch, a square inch would give, on an 
average, about 25 cells, and 25 on the oppo- 
site side would make 50 young bees that 
would be hatched from every square inch of 
solid brood. As the artificial comb, or fdn., 
is so much more regular than the natural 
comb, vve get a great many more bees in a 
given surface of comb, and here, at least, 
we can fairly claim to have improved on na- 
ture. 




DRONE- COMB. 



WORKER-COMB. 



The drone - comb measures just about 4 
cells to the inch, but the bees seem less par- 



HONEY-COMB. 



117 



HONEY-DEW. 



ticular about the size of it than with the 
worker. They very often seem to make the 
cells of such size as to best fill out a given 
space ; and we, accordingly, find them of 
all sizes, from worker size all the way up to 
considerably larger than I of an inch in 
width. Drones are raised in these extra- 
large cells without trouble, and honey is al- 
so stored in them; but where they are very 
large, the bees are compelled to turn them 
up, or the honey would flow out. As the 
honey is kept in place by capillary attrac- 
tion, if the cells exceed a certain size, the 
adhesion of the liquid to the wax walls is in- 
sufficient, of itself, to hold the honey in 
place. Where drones are to be reared in 
these very large cells, the bees contract the 
mouth, by a thick rim. As an experiment, 
I had some plates made for producing small 
sheets of fdn., having only 3£ cells to the 
inch. The bees worked on a few of these, 
with these same thick rims, but they evi- 
dently did not like the idea very well, for 
they tried to make worker-cells of some of 
it, and it proved so much of a complication 
for their little heads that they finally aban- 
doned the whole piece of comb, apparently 
in disgust. Bees sometimes rear worker 
brood in drone-comb, where compelled to 
from want of room, and they always do it in 
the way I have mentioned, by contracting 
the mouth of the cells, and leaving the 
young bee a rather large berth in which to 
grow and develop. Drones are sometimes 
reared in worker-cells also, but they are so 
much cramped in growth that they seldom 
look like a fully developed insect. 

Several times it has been suggested that 
we enlarge the race of honey-bees, by giving 
them larger cells ; and some circumstances 
seem to indicate that something may be 
done in this direction, although I have little 
hope of any permanent enlargement in size, 
unless we combine with it the idea of se- 
lecting the largest bees to propagate from, 
as given a few pages back. By making the 
cells smaller than ordinarily, we can get 
small bees with very little trouble ; and I 
have seen a whole nucleus of bees so small 
as to be really laughable, just because the 
comb they were hatched from, was set at an 
angle, so that one side was concave, and the 
other convex. The small bees came from 
the concave side. Their light, active move- 
ments, as they sported in front of the hive, 
made them a pretty and amusing sight for 
those fond of curiosities. Worker-bees 
reared in drone-cells are, if I am correct, 
sometimes extra large in size; but as to 



whether we can make them permanently 
larger by such a course, I am inclined to 
doubt. The difficulty, at present, seems to 
be the tendency to rearing a great quantity 
of useless drones. By having a hive fur- 
nished entirely with worker-comb, we can 
so nearly prevent the production of drones 
that it is safe enough to call it a complete 
remedy. 

HOW THE BEES BUILD THE COMB. 

In this day and age of bees and honey, it 
would seem that one should be able to tell 
how the bees build comb, with almost as 
much ease as they would tell how cows and 
horses eat grass ; but for all that, we lack 
records of careful and close experiments, 
such as Darwin made many years ago. In 
our house-apiary, there are dozens of hives 
where the bees are building right up close to 
the glass, at this very minute ; and all one 
has to do, in order to see how it is done, is 
to take a chair and sit down before them. 
But the little fellows have such a queer, 
sleight-of-hand way of doing the work, that 
I hardly know how they do accomplish it. 

In a little work published by Prof. Agas- 
siz, about the year 1867, the renowned nat- 
uralist speaks as follows about the way in 
which bees build honey-comb : 

" The bees stand as close as they can together in 
their hive for economy of space, and each one de- 
posits his wax around him, his own form and size 
being the mold for the cells, the regularity of 
which, when completed, excites so much wonder 
and admiration. The mathematical secret of the 
bee is to be found in his structure, not in his in- 
stinct." 

Notwithstanding the promptness with 
which the folly of such a statement was at 
once shown up in the bee-journals, it seems 
it never came to the eyes of the Prof., or, at 
least, he never deemed it worthy of notice ; 
for, in 1873, he gave, substantially, the same 
thing in a lecture at Cambridge, Mass., 
and it was praised and published in the Tri- 
bune and other papers, and sent broadcast 
all over our land. I believe all the bee-jour- 
nals at once protested against giving the 
people such " twaddle" (if I may be excused 
for using the term), as science; but for all 
that, I think the learned professor never 
recalled his blunder, or even so much as ad- 
mitted that he had never seen the inside of 
a bee-hive at all, but only guessed at it, or 
repeated what he had been told by some 
one. 

About two years afterward, the great sci- 
entist, Tyndall, by some means got an 
inkling of the way in which Agassiz had 
"put his foot in it," and, in the Popular Sci- 
ence Monthly, wisely admitted that the bees 



; HONEY-COMB. 



148 



HONEY-COMB. 



did not stand in the cells to build their 
comb, but fixed them in this wise : Says he, 
"The bees place themselves at equal dis- 
tances apart upon the wax, and sweep and 
excavate—" etc. Now, if Tyndall is teach- 
ing us other things in the same way, i. e., 
delivering lectures on some subject on which 
he knows nothing, how much can we depend 
on any thing he says? Oh why could not he 
and Agassiz, before attempting to explain 
the matter to the people, take the time to 
get a hive of real live bees, as did Darwin, 
and not be obliged to take any thing at sec- 
ond hand? If they too were afraid of stings, 
any expert honey - raiser could afford them 
the facilities for a safe observation, and thus 
prevent their going into such folly, or false- 
hood, to call things by their right names, for 
they pretend to have knowledge where they 
have none. Take the money and buy a hive of 
bees, all ye that thirst for knowledge, and 
take it direct from God's own works, instead 
of receiving it second hand. 

For particulars in regard to the North 
Pole, or as to whether the planet Jupiter is 
habitable, we may be obliged to listen to 
those who should know better than we do ; 
but in our own industry no such necessity 
exists, for a swarm of bees is within the 
reach of all. 

When distinguished persons have visited 
my apiary, I have almost invariably heard 
them mention the great discovery of Agas- 
siz, in regard to the way in which bees 
build their comb; and when I explain that 
it was a great mistake, they usually think 
that so great a man as Agassiz, and one 
who always went to the ants and bees with 
his own eyes, must have been right, and 
that I had made a mistake somewhere. 

I have occupied all this space, my friends, 
just to give you an illustration of how little 
real work some of the great scientists and 
lecturers are in the habit of doing, and of the 
importance of proving things for yourself, 
with your own eyes and hands. 

If we examine the bees closely during the 
season of comb-building and honey-gather- 
ing, we shall find many of them with the 
wax scales protruding between the rings 
that form the body, and these scales are 
either picked from their bodies, or from the 
bottom of the hive or honey-boxes in which 
they are building. If a bee is obliged to 
carry one of these wax scales but a short 
distance, he takes it in his mandibles, and 
looks as business like with it thus as a car- 
penter with a board on his shoulder. If he 
has to carry it from the bottom of the honey- 



box, he takes it in a way that I can not ex- 
plain any better than to say he slips it un- 
der his chin. When thus equipped, you 
would never know he was encumbered with 
any thing, unless it chanced to slip out, 
when he will very dextrously tuck it back 
with one of his fore feet. The little plate of 
wax is so warm from being kept under his 
chin, as to be quite soft when he gets back ; 
and as he takes it out, and gives it a pinch 
against the comb where the building is going 
on, one would think he might stop a while, 
and put it into place ; but, not he ; for off he 
scampers and twists around so many differ- 
ent ways, you might think he was not one of 
the working kind at all. Another follows 
after him sooner or later, and gives the wax 
a pinch, or a little scraping and burnishing 
with his polished mandibles, then another, 
and so on, and the sum total of all these ma- 
noeuvres is, that the comb seems almost to 
grow out of nothing ; yet no bee ever makes 
a cell himself, and no comb-building is ever 
done by any bee while standing in a cell ; 
neither do the bees ever stand in rows and 
"excavate," or any thing of the kind. 

The finished comb is the result of the unit- 
ed efforts of the moving, restless mass; and 
the great mystery is, that any thing so won- 
derful can ever result at all from such a 
mixed-up, skipping-about way of working, 
as they seem to have. When the cells are 
built out only part way, they are filled with 
honey or eggs, and the length is increased 
when they feel disposed, or "get around 
to it," perhaps. It may be that they find it 
easier working with the shallow walls about 
the cells, for they can take care of the brood 
much easier, and put in the honey easier 
too, in all probability; and, as a thick rim is 
left around the upper edge of the cell, they 
have the material at hand to lengthen it at 
any time. This thick rim is also very nec- 
essary to give the bees a secure foothold, for 
the sides of the cells are so thin they would 
be very apt to break down with even the 
light weight of a bee. When honey is com- 
ing in rapidly, and the bees are crowded for 
room to store it, their eagerness is so plainly 
apparent, as they push the work along, that 
they fairly seem to quiver with excitement ; 
but for all that, they skip about from one 
cell to another in the same way, no one bee 
working in the same spot to exceed a min- 
ute or two, at the very outside. Very fre- 
quently, after one has bent a piece of wax a 
certain way, the next tips it in the opposite 
direction, and so on until completion; but 
after all have given it a twist and a pull, it 



HONEY-DEW. 



149 



HONEY-DEW. 



is found in pretty nearly the right spot. As 
nearly as I can discover, they moisten the 
thin ribbons of wax with some sort of fluid 
or saliva. As the bee always preserves the 
thick rib or rim of the comb he is working, 
the looker-on would suppose he was making 
the walls of a considerable thickness ; but if 
we drive him away, and break this rim, we 
will find that his mandibles have come so 
nearly together that the wax between them, 
beyond the rim, is almost as thin as tissue 
paper. In building natural comb, of course 
the bottoms of the cells are thinned in the 
same way, as the work goes along, before 
any side walls are made at all ; but the man- 
ner of thinning the bottoms of the cells in the 
foundation, or artificial comb, is quite an- 
other thing. 

HONEY-DEW. This, as its name im- 
plies, is a dew that falls during the night, 
and is sweet like honey; or, at least, a great 
many claim that it falls like dew in the night, 
and many have been the learned theories 
embodied in lengthy papers, to endeavor to 
account for such a very queer way of doing 
things, on the part of old dame Nature. It 
may be that sweet dew does fall from the at- 
mosphere without the agency of aphides, or 
of any other kind of winged insect; but I, 
for one, am very much averse to accepting 
any such theory. Some writers explain it 
by saying that the leaves of some trees, and 
possibly the blades of grass, at certain times 
and seasons when the conditions are all 
right, distill the sweet matter from their foli- 
age and blades. I like this explanation 
much better than the former; but, inasmuch 
as all cases that have come under my obser- 
vation could be explained by the agency of 
the aphides (see Aphides), I am much in- 
clined to give them the credit of the whole 
of this kind of honey. When the dew is 
found on the grass, in situations where no 
trees or bushes are near, which, it is said, is 
sometimes the case, I would suggest that it 
is exuded by some sort of an insect that, aft- 
er feeding on green foliage, etc., takes a 
flight in swarms like mosquitos, and ejects 
the sweet fluid in a sort of spray. It may be 
hard to prove this; but, nevertheless, I think 
the idea much more tenable than that the 
honey or saccharine matter evaporates from 
the flowers, and then falls like clew. Some 
of the advocates of the latter theory urge 
that, in boiling the maple sap , a part of the 
sugar, at least, is evaporated, for it is plain- 
ly discernible by the smell in the air. 

My friends, you smell the volatile essen- 
tial oil that gives the maple sugar its agree- 



able odor, and not the sugar itself floating 
in the air. You can smell burnt sugar also, 
it is true; but the volatile part in either case 
is not sugar; for no skill of the chemist will 
enable him to condense it from the invisible 
vapor into sugar once more. When it is 
possible to volatilize sugar by heat, and then 
condense it again, I shall believe in a honey- 
dew distilled from the atmosphere, like the 
dews of the night. If this were possible we 
should see our sugar slowly passing away, 
while exposed to the air, precisely as does 
the moisture it contains . Experiment shows 
that sugar may be wet and dried innumera- 
ble times, but that, while the water passes 
off very soon, the full weight of the sugar is 
invariably left behind. 

In support of the exudation theory, I will 
say that I have many times found a liquid 
hanging on the leaves of the basswood and 
some other trees, in the form of a lather, like 
soapsuds; but although this had a mucilag- 
inous property, I could discover nothing 
sweet about it. Should nature change the 
starch it contained into sugar, a very simple 
and oft-occurring change, we should have 
honey-dew distilling right from the leaves 
of the trees; and I have been informed that 
such has been known to be the case— the 
leaves of the basswood-trees of the forests 
have been found dripping with honey. This 
was during the great honey yield in Minne- 
sota, a few years ago. 

In support of the theory that it falls from 
the air or clouds, it is said that, in the old 
world, there is a substance called manna (I 
presume in commemoration of the manna of 
the Bible), which falls from the air during 
certain seasons of the year, and that it is 
gathered and used as food. It has been sug- 
gested that this manna is the pollen of a cer- 
tain kind of tree, which, being light, is car- 
ried quite a distance by the wind. Pollen 
consists, principally, of starch; and a little 
dampness, such as the dews of night fur- 
nish, will frequently convert this starch into 
sugar in a very few hours. It is possible, 
that some kinds of honey-dew are the results 
of the decomposition of pollen, which may 
become scattered over the grass and herb- 
age. 

Another source of honey-dew has been re- 
cently reported. The following letter very 
graphically describes the species of bark- 
louse that produces it : 

I send you some honey-dew insects. Last Sunday^ 
I noticed my bees moving over a small poplar (tulip 
tree), and upon examining it, I found the leaves 
dripping with hones'-dew. Did it exude from the 
leaves? I saw no living insects, and yet the dew 



HONEY-DEW 



150 



HONEY-HOUSES. 



fell in a continuous shower. A closer examination 
showed me the small limbs covered with scale - like 
bunches, piled on each other like oyster-shells. One 
end of the apparent shell or scale is larger and 
broader than the other, with a slight crease up the 
middle; about midway up this crease is a small 
white dot; this dot is a small valve covering a hole 
through which the honey-dew is thrown by the in- 
sect. As I stood and watched, 1 could see the valve 
open, a few jets of fluid thrown out, and the valve 
closed again. This would be repeated every mo- 
ment or two; and as there are untold numbers of 
these strange things on the tree, you can have some 
idea of the amount of dew thrown out. For a whole 
week now, these insects have been making honey 
dew; how much longer they will continue to do so, 
I can't tell, but intend to watch them. T send you 
some of the insects to-day by mail; if it is any thing 
new, let us all have the benefit of it. I can not yet 
believe the " Exudation Theory" of honey-dew, but 
will wait till I find out more about it. 

M. J. Willard. 
Jonesboro, Ills., May 36, 1878. 

The scaly little fellows (looking, for all 
the world, like miniature mud-turtles) that 
cover the twig sent, I should scarcely have 
thought of calling insects, had it not been 
mentioned. They are truly wonderful, and, 
at least, demonstrate that honey-dew is not 
the product of any one species of insects. 

Prof. Cook gives a very complete history 
of the insect, with drawings, in the Ameri- 
can Bee Journal for Sept., 1878. I was at 
Brat inclined to think it might be worth 
while to propagate these insects in localities 
where pasturage is very scarce in the fall of 
the year, but friend Cook assures us that 
they are very destructive to our beautiful 
tulip or whitewood trees. He has given it 
the name of Lecanmm TuUpifcra. 

In conclusion, I would ask those who come 
across this wonderful substance, or find the 
bees working on it, to make careful experi- 
ments and examinations. Do not jump hast- 
ily at conclusions, but go clear to the top 
and bottom of things. Many have declared 
there were no aphides on the trees at all; 
and one man who had so decided, afterward 
concluded to climb the tree, and, in its very 
topmost branches, he found the leaves all 
alive with a sort of green insect, which w r as 
spraying the air with the dew in a manner 
that made it look like a veritable shower, as 
the sunlight illumined the scene. Look 
carefully, and then write me your discov- 
eries. 

April, 1880.— We have now fair evidence 
that the leaves of plants do at times exude 
honey. See the following, taken from page 
587 of Dec. Gleanings for 1880: 

HONEY FROM THE LEAVES OF THE CATALPA. 

I came very near forgetting to tell you about the 
catal pa-tree . It belongs to the family of Blgnonias. 



There are about 6 trees just around me. They are 
planted for ornament. It was rich in honey this 
year, both in the blossoms and on the under side of 
the leaf. At the axles of the main ribs, the leaves 
are large. The drops would be large enough for two 
loads, I should judge. And did the bees work on 
them? I should have been very much pleased could 
you have stood underneath those trees and heard 
their merry hum ; but you would have had to be up 
nearly as early as you were on the morning that you 
found out about the Spider-plant. It would have 
dispelled some people's notions about plants and 
flowers secreting honey only from the blossoms. It 
is the last tree to leaf out in the spring. 

W. G. Saltford. 
Poughkeepsie, N. Y., Sept. 28, 1880. 

On receipt of the above I wrote friend S., 
for a leaf, and here is the reply that came 
with it : 

Please find inclosed a part of the leaf I told you se- 
creted the honey. They are a little touched by frost 
now. Their right color is a deep green. 

W. G. Sai/tford. 

Poughkeepsie, N. Y., Oct. 18, 1880. 

We have the calalpa-tree in our town, but 
it has, so far as I know, never produced any 
honey. The above facts, and a host of oth- 
ers, seem to indicate, pretty conclusively, 
that almost every plant in the vegetable 
kingdom may, at times, be in a condition to 
secrete honey ; and, more wonderful still, it 
may come from the foliage instead of from 
the blossoms. I have many times seen bees 
prying around on the under side of leaves of 
different kinds, as if they were in search of 
something, or had at some time found some- 
thing there that they remembered. The 
leaves sent show a black spot at the place 
where the large veins branch out. To be 
sure that there is no microscopic insects 
that have contributed to the production of 
the honey, a careful microscopic examina- 
tion would be well, and I have given the 
dried leaf to the boys, but they can not de- 
tect the remains of any such agency. 

HONEY - HOUSES. As much of the 
value of honey depends upon its care after 
being taken from the hive, and as very much 
of our success as honey-producers depends 
largely upon the facilities w r e have for ac- 
complishing a large amount of work easily 
and quickly, it is highly important that we 
have a honey-house that is well adapted to 
the storing of honey and combs, and that is 
convenient as a work-shop. Some most val- 
uable suggestions were made regarding the 
construction of honey-houses, in Gleanings, 
early in 1883. Among them was an article 
from G. M. Doolittle, that embodies many 
of the most practical points to be observed ; 
and his remarks are the more valuable, as 
they apply to the construction of a honey- 



HOXEY-HOUSES. 



151 



HONEY-HOUSES. 



house on any plan, or even the fixing-over of 
some building we may already have in use. 
Inasmuch as friend Doolittle has been not 
only one of the largest producers, but also 
one who has produced some of the finest 
comb honey, we are very glad to have the 
following valuable hints from his pen : 

I am requested to tell in Gleanings how I would 
build a honey-house ; and I see on p. 615, of Glean- 
ings for December, that E. T. Flanagan desires a 
plan for building- a house for both comb and ex- 
tracted honey. In the first place I would say, that I 
should not want extracted and comb honey, and the 
necessary work for each, done all in one room. My 
experience says, have a room for comb honey, one 
for extracted, and a third room large enough to do 
all the general work for both. Now, any building- 
can be cheaply lined so as to exclude bees, with 
half-inch stuff, for this general work-room, and the 
storage-rooms be built on the south side so as to 
make them convenient, airy, strong, and sufficient- 
ly warm to ripen honey thoroughly. If I were 
building a shop I should build it so that I could par- 
tition off these two storage-rooms, one on the south- 
west and the other on the southeast corner of the 
same, having the body of the shop for doing work of 
all kinds pertaining to the apiary. I should build it 
two stories, and use the upper story for storing 
every thing not in use, or liable to be used for some 
little time. If I did not wish to build a shop I should 
use any old building I had, lining it and fixing as in 
the case first given for a room for this general 
work, for such a room is certainly necessary. It 
would be preferable to have this general room both 
mouse and rat proof; but if an old building is used 
it could hardly be expected, without quite an out- 
lay. The two rooms used for storing honey I would 
have mouse-proof, let it cost what it would, for the 
filth of vermin about honey is not to be tolerated at 
all. If mice get into the general room, keep them 
caught out with traps ; and as for the rats, they will 
not be liable to bother unless you have grain of 
some kind in your room for them to feed upon, and 
this, of course, you will not tolerate, for this gener- 
al room is for bee-fixtures and not for grain. 

Having given a little outline of what I would have 
for a general work-room, I will next speak of a room 
for storing comb honey. This need not be larger 
than 8 x 10 for storing all the comb honey from 100 
stocks in the spring, even should they produce 200 
lbs. per swarm on an average. Whether built in 
with a shop, or at the side of another building, I 
should have a wall of mason-work for the sills to 
rest upon, if drainage could be obtained so the wa- 
ter would not stand under the wall, as in such a case 
the freezing of the water about the wall would soon 
destroy it. If I could not dispose of the water I 
would use abutments. The wall, or abutments, 
need not be more than a foot high ; and if a wall, 
two or four six-inch square holes should be left at 
the sides so the air can freely circulate under the 
floor. If a wall is used, 6x8 inch would be plenty 
large for the sills, and 8 x 10 in any case ; for you 
will see that the abutments, if such are used, are 
close together, not more than three feet apart. For 
sleepers I should use 2x8 inch, and place them but 
8 inches apart from center to center, having them 
run the shortest way of the room. Now, don't think 
this too strong, and place these sleepers further 
apart; for if you do you will repent when you get 



from five to ten tons of honey in your room. I would 
have the room 9 feet high, so the studding (2x6 in.) 
should be that length less your plates (4x6 in.), if 
you build this room separate from your shop. If so 
built I would have a tin roof, and paint it a dark 
color; but if in a shop, of course no roof will be 
needed, as the upper floor will make the roof. 

So far I would use good hemlock for the wood em- 
ployed, for this holds a nail well, is strong, and does 
not easily decay. For the floor I would use 1*4 
matched spruce 4 inches wide, and inch pine com- 
mon ceiling for the sides. If all is put together as 
it should be, you will not be bothered with mice, 
providing you keep the door to this room shut when 
not in use. This door is to be on the side next your 
general room, of course. I would have a window on 
one side and one end, which are to be opened in 
warm dry weather, so as to thoroughly ventilate the 
room and pile of honey. Over these windows, on 
the outside, is to be placed wire cloth so the windows 
can be left open at pleasure without any fears of 
robber bees. To let the bees out, which may chance 
to come in on the honey as it is taken from the hive, 
let this wire cloth run 8 or 10 inches above the top 
of the window, nailing on strips of lath, or other 
strips, % thick, so as to keep the wire cloth out that 
far from the sides of the building, thus giving space 
for the bees to crawl up on the cloth to the top when 
they are on the outside. No robber bee will ever 
think of trying to get in at this entrance, so your 
room is kept clean of bees and flies all the while. 
This completes the building, I believe, except that 
we want it painted some dai;k color so that the rays 
of the sun may keep it as warm as possible. Our 
door should be in the center of one side, so that on 
each side of our room a platform can be built, upon 
which to place our honey. Perhaps all will not agree 
with me, but I think all box honey should be stored 
in such a room at least a month before crating, to 
ripen and sweat out, I know it is a saving of time 
and labor to crate it at once ; but I think it pays for 
all this extra time and labor, in the better quality 
and appearance of our product. For the platform, I 
take pieces of 2x12 plank, and cut them 3 ft. 9 in. 
long, and spike two pieces together, thus making a 
stick 4x12x3 ft. 9, using three of these on a side, set 
thel2-way up, which leaves an alley 2 l ift. through the 
center of the room. Upon these lay four 3x4 sticks, 
8 ft. long (4 on each side). Now lay sticks 2x2x3 ft, 9 
across these so your sections will stand on them the 
same as they did in the hive, and have the ends of 
the sections meet in the center of these 2x2 sticks. 
Also by means of strips keep the honey out two 
inches from the side of the building, so that the air 
can circulate all around the pile, otherwise that next 
the sides of the building will sweat so as to become 
transparent. Also, piled in this way the fumes of 
burning sulphur can penetrate the whole pile by 
placing your burning sulphur under the pile. 

The room for the extracted honey, I would build 
of the same width, except that I would have it 14 to 
18 feet long instead of 10, so as to give plenty of 
room. The reason we have our comb-honey room 
small, is, that we can sulphur our honey in as small 
a room as^"possible. I would build both rooms as 
one, so as to save material, and separate them by a 
partition so made that the sulphur smoke could not 
get through. You can store your extracted honey 
in tin-lined vats, made to suit you, in barrels, kegs, 
or in the 300-lb. tin cans sold by A. I. Root, as pre- 
ferred. In fact, fix up the Inside of this to suit you, 



HORSEMINT. 



152 



HYBRIDS. 



as probably nearly all will have their own way. I 
prefer the A. I. Root cans for storing honey, and the 
Novice extractor. By placing a cloth over the top 
of these cans, the honey ripens nicely in this warm 
room, even if the combs are not fully sealed when 
extracted. 

With a description of howl store my combs, which 
are used for extracting purposes, I will close this al- 
ready too long article. As you are building your 
honey-room, have the studding on one side set just 
as far apart as the top-bar of your frame is long; 
not from center to center of studding, but leave 
that space between each. Now nail strips of % 
stuff, 2'i feet long by 5 inches wide to these stud- 
ding, letting them stand out into the room in a hori- 
zontal position. Let the distance between each strip 
from top to top be 1 inch greater than the depth of 
your frame, so as to give sufficient room to manipu- 
late the frames handily. Three inches from the 
ends of these strips run a partition clear across the 
room, which is to have close-fitting, narrow doors 
placed in it, spaced so as to be most convenient. 
Now hang in your combs; see that all combs not in 
use are in their place, and not lying about some- 
where else. As often as any signs of worms are 
found, put in a pot of burning sulphur; close the 
doors and the work is done. In all this work with 
burning sulphur, make certain that nothing can by 
any means take fire from it before you place the 
Are to the sulphur, for a room full of sulphur fumes 
is a bad place to go to, to put out a fire. 

Borodino, N. Y., Dec, 1882. G. M. Dooi.ittle. 

HORS1C3MEIZVT ( Monarda punctata). 

This plant was first brought to notice several 
years ago, and at that time the seeds were 
sold quite extensively as a honey -bearing 
plant. It was dropped and almost forgotten, 
until reports of large crops of honey, said to 
be from this source alone, began to come in. 
It first attracted attention on the alluvial 
lowlands bordering on the Mississippi River ; 
afterward, wonderful reports came from it, 
from different parts of Texas — one man re- 
porting as high as 700 lbs. gathered by a sin- 
gle colony in a single season. The bees that 
did this wonderful feat were Cyprians, or, at 




HORSEMINT OF TEXAS. 

least, crossed with Cyprian blood. The hive 
in which they stored it was the common Sim- 
plicity hive, tiered up four stories high. This 
great yield of honey was reported during the 
season of 1882. As the crop seems almost a 
total failure this present year, 1883, it would 
seem that the yield is a little uncertain, as 



with a great many other honey - bearing 
plants. Considerable talk has been made 
about raising the plants for honey. One 
drawback is, that the flavor, and especially 
when first gathered, is peculiar, and a little 
unpleasant to most people. After standing 
several months, however, in an open vessel, 
protected from the flies (with cheese-cloth, 
for instance), it parts with its rank flavor, 
and becomes beautiful-tasting honey, and so 
clear and limpid that print can readily be 
seen through a glass jar of it, while the hon- 
ey is so thick that the jar may be turned over 
without the honey running. As it grows 
spontaneously in many parts of the South in 
vast beds, acres in extent, it would seem bet- 
ter at the present time for the bee-keeper to 
move to these localities rather than attempt 
to raise it further north for honey alone. 

HYBRIDS. Everybody who has had 
Italians very long, probably knows what 
hybrids are, especially if they have kept 
bees when the honey-crop was suddenly cut 
short during a drought in the fall of the year. 
The term hybrid has been applied to bees 
that are a cross between the Italians and the 
common bee. If one buys an Italian queen 
that is pure, he can at once set about rear- 
ing queeus if he chooses, and it matters not 
how many common bees there are around him; 
if he rears all his queens as I have directed 
under Artificial Swarming and Queen- 
rearing, he may have the full benefit of the 
Italians so far as honey-gathering is con- 
cerned, just as well as if there were no other 
bees within miles of him. This seems a 
paradox to most beginners, for we have let- 
ters almost daily, asking if it will be of any 
use to purchase Italians, when other bees 
are kept all around them. If you are keep- 
ing bees for the honey they produce, and for 
nothing else, I do not know but that you are 
better off with other bees in the neighbor- 
hood. The queens that you rear will be full- 
bloods like their mother; but after meeting 
the common drones, their worker progeny 
will of course be half common and half Ital- 
ian, generally speaking. These are what we 
call hybrid bees. In looks they are much 
like the Italians, only a little darker. Some- 
times a queen will produce bees all about 
alike ; that is, they will have one or two of 
the yellow bands, the first and broadest be- 
ing about as plain and distinct as in the full- 
bloods. Other queens will produce bees 
variously striped, from a pure black bee, to 
the finest three-banded Italians. I have had 
black queens fertilized by Italian drones, 
and these seem to be hybrids just the same 



HYBRIDS. 



153 



HYBRIDS. 



as the others; I have not been able to distin- 
guish any particular difference. 

As honey-gatherers, these bees that have 
the blood of the two races are, I believe, tak- 
ing all things into consideration, fully equal 
to the full-blood Italians. There are times, 
it is true, when the full-bloods seem to be 
ahead; but I think there are other times and 
circumstances when the taint of black blood 
gives an advantage in respect to the amount 
of honey gathered, that will fully make up 
the difference; and I would therefore say, if 
honey is your object and nothing else, you 
are just as well off to let your queens meet 
just such drones as they happen to find. 
Why, then, do hybrid queens find slow sale, 
at about one-fourth of the price of pure Ital- 
ians? Just because of their excitability and 
vindictive temper. 39 

Italians, as they generally run, are dis- 
posed to be quiet and still when their hive is 
opened, and to remain quietly on their combs 
while they are being handled, showing neith- 
er vindictiveness nor alarm. Black or com- 
mon bees, on the contrary, are disposed to 
be frightened, and either make a general 
stampede, or buzz about one's head and eyes 
in a way quite unlike the Italians. The Ital- 
ians do not stand still because they are afraid 
to make an attack, for, let a robber approach, 
and they will sting him to death in a way so 
cool as to astonish one who has seen only 
common bees under similar circumstances. 
A race of bees so prompt to repel intruders 
of their own kind, it would seem, would also 
be prompt to repel interference from man; 
but such is not the case. They do not seem 
to be at all suspicious when their hive is 
opened, and a frame lifted out. Well, these 
half-bloods inherit the boldness of the Ital- 
ians, and, at the same time, the vindic- 
tiveness of the blacks. And to raise the cov- 
er to a hive of hybrids, without smoke, dur- 
ing a scarcity of honey, would be a bold op- 
eration for even a veteran. Without any 
buzz or note of alarm, one of these sons of 
war will quietly dart forth and inflict his 
sting before you hardly know where it comes 
from; then another, and another, until, al- 
most crazed with pain, you drop the cover, 
and find that they are bound to stick to you, 
not only out into the street, but into the 
house, or wherever you may go, in a way 
very unlike either pure race of bees. Some- 
times, when a hive is opened, they will fix on 



the leg of one's trowsers so quietly that you 
hardly dream they are there, until you see 
them stinging with a vehemence that indi- 
cates a willingness to throw away a score of 
lives if they had so many. This bad temper 
and stinging is not all; if you should desire 
to introduce a queen or queen- cell to these 
bees, they would be very likely to destroy 
all you could bring; while a stock of either 
pure race would accept them without trouble. 
During extracting time, or taking off sur- 
plus honey, you will find little trouble, pro- 
viding you work while honey is still coming; 
but woe betide you, if you leave it on the 
hives until the yield is passed. 40 

In preparing hybrid stocks for wintering, 
I have seen them so cross that it was almost 
impossible to get in sight of the hive, after 
they had once got roused up; and when I 
charged on them suddenly with smoker in 
excellent trim, they charged on me as sud- 
denly, took possession of the smoker, buzzed 
down into the tube in their frantic madness, 
and made me glad to beat a retreat, leaving 
them in full possession not only of the " field," 
but the "artillery" as well. This was a very 
powerful colony, and they had been unusu- 
ally roused up. Although it was quite cool 
weather, they hung on the outside of the 
hive, watching for me, I suppose, until next 
morning. I then came up behind them with 
a great volley of smoke, and got them under 
and kept them so, until I could give them 
chaff cushions, and put them in proper win- 
tering trim. The queen was extremely pro- 
lific, and I do not know that I ever had one 
single queen that was the mother of a larger 
family of bees. Many of these hybrid queens 
are extraordinarily prolific. 

I believe the hybrids are more disposed to 
rob than the Italians, but not as much so as 
the common bees. I decide thus, because, 
when at work among them, the bees that 
buzz about the hives, trying to grab a load 
of plunder if a chance offers, are almost in- 
variably full-blood blacks. 41 They may have 
a dash of hybrid blood, but I judge not, be- 
cause the hybrids and Italians will often be 
at work, when the blacks are lounging about 
trying to rob, or doing nothing. I have 
known a strong hybrid stock to be slowly 
accumulating stores in the fall, when full- 
bloods, in the same apiary, were losing day 
by day. See Italian Bees. 




STllLWtl-CD.OM.Q. 

W. Z. HUTCHINSON'S BANNEK AI'IABY, UOGKKSVILT,!-:, GKNESKE CO., MICHIGAN. 




J. II. 3IAUTIN S ATIAKY, 1IARTFOKD. N. Y. 



I. 



INTRODUCING QUEENS. I do 

not know, my friends, how I can give any 
specific directions that will do for all cases, 
while bees do so differently at times, and 
different colonies have such different dispo- 
sitions. I think it is possible to introduce 
any fertile queen to almost any colony, but 
it will require a close and careful study of 
the habits of each, and sometimes much 
time and patience. Lest beginners should 
be discouraged at the outset, I would re- 
mark that in perhaps the majority of cases 
the queen can be let loose at once, without 
any caging whatever. The point is, to de- 
termine when this can be done, and when 
it can not be done. 

The very first thing to be determined is 
that your old colony is certainly queenless. 
Many will think, if they have found the old 
queen and removed her, that there can be 
no doubt about it; but this is far from being 
true, for a hive quite often contains two 
queens, and very frequently two laying 
queens. When the old queen begins to fail, 
cells are started ; and when the young queen 
begins to lay, before her mother has entire- 
ly failed, they are often found laying side 
by side. If you should remove either one, 
and let your new queen loose, she would be 
killed most assuredly. What shall we do in 
such cases V Well, if the hive has an un- 
usual amount of brood, I would look for an- 
other queen, and if not satisfied would wait 
24 or 48 hours and see if they had started 
queen-cells ; if you see the queen-cells start- 
ed, you may be very sure there is no queen 
in the hive, although cases are once in a 
great while found in which they will keep 
on with the cells when a virgin queen is 
present. 

HOW TO FIND AND KEMOVE THE OLD 
QUEEN. 

If it is at a season Of the year, or during 
weather when robbers are about or may be 
expected to be, you had better do your work 
just about sunset, or so late that all the bees 
are in their hives. Have smoke in readi- 
ness, but do not i^se it if it can be avoided ; 
remove the cover from the hive very gently 



I and do not have any snapping or jarring 
I about your work. 

Draw off the sheet of duck carefully, and 
then push the frames on each side, away 
from one of the central brood-combs. If 
you can lift this out without making any 
disturbance, you will stand a good chance 
of seeing the queen at once ; if you do not 
find her there, set the frame in your comb- 
basket and examine the next. 4 '- If the colony 
is very populous, you may not find her at 
all, after going over all the combs ; in that 
case look them over carefully as you restore 
them to their places ; and if you do not find 
her then, close the hive for a short time, 
and then try again. With Italians, you can 
often hunt for the queen a couple of hours 
or more, if you like ; but with black lees, if 
you do not find her the first time, they will 
usually gather in clusters so much as to 
make further search impossible, and there- 
fore you will have to let them get quieted 
down before you try again. Your eyes will 
very soon train themselves, as it were, to 
recognize a queen as soon as you get the 
slightest glimpse of any part of her body, 
and during the season of queen-rearing, the 
effort required to spy them out quickly is 
such that I often dream of seeing queens, 
and picking them out, all night long, after 
a busy day in the apiary.* 

I rather prefer to pick a queen up by the 
wings; but if you can get her securely by 
the shoulders it will do very well ; do not 
get hold of the soft part of her body, or you 
will be pretty sure to do her injury ; if she 
is a smart active queen, she will be very apt 
to bite vigorously, and a beginner might be 
tempted to let her go, doubting the state- 
ment so often made that queens never sting 
when caught. Do not be alarmed, but put 
her into a cage, and keep her until you are 
sure your new queen is safe and laying. 
Never kill a laying queen until you have 
one safely laying in her stead. 



*If you can not find her by the above plan, shake 
all the bees on a sheet, or a large white paper, fas- 
tened in front of the hive, and then pick her out as 
they crawl back in. I have never failed by this plan. 
Two pairs of eyes to watch will be an advantage. 



INTRODUCING QUEENS. 



156 



INTRODUCING QUEENS. 



The hive is now presumed to be queen- 
less; but if our new queen is a very valuable 
one, we will put her in the cage on top of 
the frames directly over the cluster, until 
queen-cells have been started. This will 
usually be in 24 hours. Open the hive very 
gently as before, lift out one or more brood- 
combs, until you find cells enlarged, some- 
thing like the cup of an acorn, and contain- 
ing a much larger quantity of the milky 
food than is ever given a common worker* 
We can many times recognize where a queen- 
cell is to be started, by this extra amount of 
food, before we can perceive any change in 
its shape. The hive is certainly queenless, 
and we are so far safe ; if the bees seem 
good to the queen, we are ready to let her 
out. When you hist turn back the duck, if 
the bees are clinging in hard knots to the 
wire cloth, making a kind of hissing noise 
as if they would like to tear her in pieces, 
you certainly must not let her out, and it is 
rather unsafe to do so, so long as there are a 
great quantity of bees piled up over the 
cage. If it is safe to release the queen, the 
bees should be walking about as usual, dis- 
playing no unusual excitement, and the 
bees on and about the cage should be offer- 
ing her food in their usual way, and with 
the deference and respect they usually pay 
a queen. If they do not do this, keep her 
caged until they do get quiet and respectful. 
Very often they will receive her thus at 
once, and it may, in extreme cases, require 
a week. See Cages for Queens. 

HOW TO RELEASE THE QUEEN. 

Open the cage close to the cluster, so that 
the queen, as she crawls out, will have to 
pass before your eye, so that you can easily 
rescue her if need be. Have your smoker 
ready, but do not use it unless compelled 
to; as she comes out, they will probably 
come up to see her and get acquainted, and 
you need not be alarmed if some of them 
climb up on her back, and walk over her in 
quite a rude way for receiving visitors, if 
they only do not begin to try to use their 
stings. If they do, use a little smoke, and 
cage her again. If they permit her, aft- 
er a little looking over, to pass on slowly 
toward the combs, you can let her go dow r n 
safely ; but if convenient, I would give her 
another "look" after about 20 or SO min- 
utes. You will find her without trouble, 
by the eager throng that surrounds her, to 
make her acquaintance. It may be well to 
see if she is all right and laying next morn- 
ing, for I have known them to treat a queen 
very well at first, and then find her in a ball 



of bees half a day afterward. Sometimes 
this "balling" kills the queen in a short 
time, and again she may live while thus fet- 
tered for 48 hours, or until they get over 
their frenzy and let her go. I have known 
queens to have all their wings and some of 
their legs pulled off in such encounters, and 
yet do good service for a year or two after- 
ward. We usually use smoke to make these 
bees let go of a queen; for if you try to pull 
them off they are almost sure to sting her. 
Dropping them into a cup of water will get 
them off safely, and is often the readiest 
means at hand. 

Many plans have been given to induce the 
bees to desist when they seem bent on this 
kind of mischief, such as taking away all 
their brood, removing all their combs and 
allowing them only the empty hive, smok- 
ing them severely with tobacco, etc.; and 
although all these remedies answer well at 
times, I think it just as well to keep the 
queen caged, providing she has plenty of 
food in the cage, andthe bees are^not al- 
lowed to hatch a new queen in the hive ; for 
if they once get a young queen of their own, 
it is out of the question to get them to ac- 
cept any other until she is removed. 

The only objection I have heard to this 
plan of introducing is, that the queen may 
rly away; and this can be prevented by 
watching carefully her movements. To 
sum up, I would say let the bees have the 
queen just as soon as they will receive her; 
it may be at once, in 24 or 48 hours, or it 
may be a week. I have within a few days 
taken a laying queen from one hive and had 
her laying in another within two hours aft- 
erward. If you have a queen that you do 
not value, it will be an excellent plan for 
you to practice, by seeing how many stocks 
you can introduce her to without caging." 

WHAT TO DO WITH THE ESCORT BEES. 

It has been our custom to let these loose 
with the queen ; but if robbers are about, 
this is a very dangerous operation. I once 
released an imported queen, and had her 
well received, when, noticing the bees re- 
maining in the cage, I shook them in front 
of the hive. Robbers were about; and when 
the little fellows attempted to go in peace- 
ably, they were stung to death without mer- 
cy. Then, having got into the stinging bus- 
iness, they began to search about for intrud- 
ers, and, coming across the queen, stung her 
to death before I could interfere. If robbers 
are hovering about, put the bees that come 
with the queen into some other hive. G. P. 



INTRODUCING QUEENS. 



157 



ITALIAN BEES. 



Replogle, of Unionville, la., first cautioned 
us in this matter. 

Many queens are starved to death, for 
even if the cages are placed in the midst of 
sealed honey they almost always take it all 
away in a very short time. See that the 
cage always has plenty of Good candy in it. 
It has been recommended to daub the queen 
with honey when releasing her, but this I 
would strongly object to; because if she is 
not received, and such is often the case, she 
will have to be caged again; and as the bees 
can not lick her off, the honey will, in a 
short time, kill her. Many highly recom- 
mend spraying her and the bees with pep- 
permint, or other like substances, that all 
may be of one scent; but this is never safe 
unless she is looked to after awhile, and I 
am not sure that it does any good at all ; 
many succeed with the plan, but how do 
they know the result would not have been 
just the same without the spraying? 

WHAT TO DO, IF THE QUEEN FLIES AWAY. 

If a queen takes wing and flies away when 
let out of the cage, leave the hive open and 
she will be almost sure to come back, in a 
short time, to just the place where she was 
let out. A few cases have been reported 
where they never came back, and on this 
account it may be well to clip her wings as 
I have advised. Virgin queens have only 
been introduced successfully when first 
hatched. I 'aging, as we do with laying 
queens, is almost sure to result in their loss. 
I do not know that I have ever succeeded 
with one in that way. See Lamp Nursery. 

There is one perfectly sure way of intro- 
ducing a very valuable queen, such as an 
imported one, if we only observe the condi- 
tions carefully. Remove frames of hatch- 
ing brood from several hives, and shake off 
every bee ; put these in an empty hive, clos- 
ing it down to a small space; and if the 
weather is not very warm, place the whole 
in a warm room ; let the queen and her at- 
tendants loose in this hive, and the young 
bees, as they hatch out, will soon make a 
swarm. As several who have tried this 
plan have been so careless as to leave the 
entrance open and let the queen get out, I 
would warn you, especially, to have your 
hive so close that no bee can by any possi- 
bility get out.* If the frames you have 
selected contain no unsealed brood, 
you will have but little loss; but other- 
wise, the larvae, having no bees to feed them, 



*They can be set out and allowed to fly in two or 
three days. 



will mostly starve. As soon as a few hun- 
dred bees are hatched, the queen will be 
found with them, and they will soon make 
a cluster; if the combs have been taken 
from strong colonies, where the queen is 
laying hundreds of eggs in a day, in a week 
or two, the swarm will be a very fair one. 
Three frames will do very well at first, and 
one or two more may be added in the course 
of a week or more. Remember, no live bee is 
to be given to the queen. A queen is sel- 
dom lost by the first plan given, if you are 
careful, and watch them until they are 
safely received. See page 48. 

HOW SOON SHOULD AN INTRODUCED QUEEN 
BEGIN TO LAY? 

As a general thing, we may expect her to 
begin laying next day ; but sometimes, es- 
pecially if the queen has been a long time 
prevented from laying, as in the case of an 
imported queen, she may not lay for three 
or four days, or even a week. If introduced 
in the fall of the year, she may not com- 
mence laying at all until spring, unless the 
colony is fed regularly every day for a week 
or more. This will always start a queen that 
is good for anything. 

Caution in introducing queens : — It is 
quite a common thing to lose queens while 
introducing them, especially when it is 
done either early in the spring, or late in 
the fell. If the weather is cool, it may not 
be safe to put the cage on top of the frames: 
unless the colony is very strong, and sure to 
cluster over the cage, it would be better 
placed between two combs about in the cen- 
ter of the brood-nest, after which be sure to 
cover all up with plenty of cushions or soft 
woolens. 




INTRODUCING -CAGE FOR COLD WEATHER. 

It is simply a piece of wire cloth, 3x4 inch- 
es, rolled lengthwise, so as to make a tube 
i in. in diameter. An inch of one end of the 
tube is filled with soft candy, and a 2-dram 
vial, with the usual notch in the cork, is put 
in the other end. The queen is put into the 
cage, and it is then pressed between two 
combs, in such a way that the bottle is at 
the upper end. Of course, the cage is put 
right in the midst of the cluster, where the 
bees can uot help getting acquainted with 
her. So far, we have had no failures with it. 

ITALIAN BEES At present, the 
Italians are by far the most profitable bees 
we have; and even the hybrids have shown 
themselves so far ahead of the common bee 



ITALIAN BEES. 158 

that I think we may safely consider all dis- 
cussions in the matter at an end. Many 
times we find colonies of hybrids that go 
ahead of the pure stock; but as a general thing 
(taking one season with another), the pure 
Italians, where they have not been enfeebled 
by choosing the light-colored bees to breed 
from, are ahead of any admixture. There 
has been a great tendency with bees, as well 
as other stock, to pay more attention to 
looks than to real intrinsic worth, such as 
honey-gathering, prolificness of the queens, 
hardiness, etc.; and I think this may have had 
mi icli to do with the severe losses we have 
sustained in winters past. Since the recent 
large importations of queens direct from 
Italy, and a disposition to be satisfied with 
bees that are not all golden yellow, we have 
certainly met with much better success in 
wintering, as well as honey-gathering. 

Even if it were true, that hybrids produce 
as much honey as pure Italians, each bee- 
keeper would want at least one queen of ab- 
solute and known purity; for although a 
first cross might do very well, unless he had 
this one pure queen to furnish queen-cells, 
he would soon have bees of all possible 
grades, from the faintest trace of Italian 
blood, all the way up. The objection to this 
course is, that these blacks, with about one 
hand to show trace of Italian blood, are the 
wickedest bees to sting that can well be im- 
agined, being very much more vindictive 
than either race in its purity; they also have 
a very disagreeable way of tumbling oft the 
combs in a perfectly demoralized state, when- 
ever the hive is opened, except in the 
height of the honey-season, and of making a 
general uproar when they are compelled, by 
smoke, to be " decent." In attempting to in- 
troduce some queens to hives of this class, a 
few days ago, they uncapped nearly all the 
honey in the hive, and gorged themselves 
every time I looked them over. The conse- 
quence was, that after they had been looked 
over several times for their queen, queen- 
cells, etc., a large part of their winter stores 
was uselessly consumed ; for the honey they 
had gorged themselves with started them 
to building comb at a season when it was 
not wanted, and so stirred them up that 
they were boiling out at the entrance at a 
time when " honest bees " should have been 
snugly tucked away in their winter doze. 

Our pure Italian stocks could have been 
opened, and their queens removed, scarcely 
disturbing the cluster, and as a general thing, 
without the use of any smoke at all, by one 
who is fully conversant with the habits of 



ITALIAN BEES. 

bees. Neither will this class of hybrids re- 
pel the moth, as do the half-bloods and the 
pure Italians. Eor these reasons and several 
others, I would rear all queens from one of 
known purity. If we do this, we may have 
almost if not quite the full benefit of the Ital- 
ians as honey-gatherers, even though there 
are black bees all about us. 

Suppose you get an imported queen, and 
rear queens from her eggs for all your other 
hives, and all increase you may have during 
the first season. None of your worker-bees, 
the next season, will be less than half bloods, 
and all Your drones will be full-bloods. See 
Dkone and Queen. The queens that are 
reared now, will, many of them, prove pure; 
and by persistence in this course, year after 
year, Italians will soon be the rule instead 
of the exception. This is no theory, but has 
been the result, practically, in hundreds of 
apiaries. 

Now this is all very clear, plain sailing; but 
we must take into consideration that our 
drones are all the time meeting the queens 
from our neighbors 1 hives, and from the for- 
ests. This will have no other effect the first 
season than to produce hybrid workers, 
without changing the drone progeny; but 
when these hybrid stocks begin to send out 
swarms, these swarms will furnish hybrid 
drones, and soon will come all sorts of mix- 
tures. 

Well, we shall have to let them mix, I sup- 
pose, and I do not know that it does any 
particular harm, for any admixture of Ital- 
ian blood improves the common stock. 

But if we are going to buy or sell bees, we 
want to know what to charge for them, and 
also what to sell them for ; we also wish to 
know which queens to remove, when we are 
Italianizing our apiary throughout ; hence 
it becomes very important to know which 
are Italians and which are not. To be can- 
did, I do not believe it is possible always, 
to tell ; but I think we can come near enough 
for all " practical purposes," as they say in 
making astronomical computations. 

The queens, and drones from queens ob- 
tained direct from Italy, vary greatly in their 
markings, but the worker bee has one pecul- 
iarity that I have never found wanting ; 
that is the three yellow bands we have all 
heard so much about. Unfortunately, there 
has been a great amount of controversy 
about these yellow bands; and to help restore 
harmony, I have been to some expense for 
engravings. As is often the case, I failed to 
get our city friends to understand just what 
I wanted the engraving for, so we have made 



ITALIAN BEES. 



159 



ITALIAN BEES. 



a sketch of the body of the bee ourselves, 
as shown on this page. 

Every worker - bee, whether common or 
Italian, has a body composed of six scales, 
or segments, one sliding into the other, tele- 
scope fashion. When the bee is full of hon- 
ey these segments slide out, and the body 
is elongated considerably beyond the tips of 
the wings, which are ordinarily about the 
length of the body. Sometimes we see bees 
swollen with dysentery, so much that the 
rings are spread to their fullest extent, 



dense masses of bees has something to do 
with it ; for we often see such shiny black 
bees in great numbers, in stocks that have 
been nearly suffocated by being confined to 
their hives, in shipping, or at other times. 

These bands of down differ in shades of 
color, many times, and this is the case with 
the common bee, as well as with the Italian. 

Under the microscope, the bands are sim- 
ply fine soft hair, or fur, and it is this prin- 
cipally which gives the light - colored Ital- 
ians their handsome appearance. You have, 





HOW TO TELL HYBRIDS FROM PURE ITALIANS. 



and in that condition they sometimes would 
be called queens, by an inexperienced person. 
On the contrary, in the fall of the year 
when the bee is preparing for his winter nap, 
his body is so much drawn up that he 
scarcely seems like the same insect. The en- 
graving on the right shows the body of the 
bee detached from the shoulders, that we may 
get a full view of the bands or markings 
that distinguish the Italians from the com- 
mon bees. Now I wish you to observe par- 
ticularly, that all honey - bees, common as 
well as Italian, have four bands of bright- 
colored down, J, K, L,M, one on each of the 
four middle rings of the body, but none on 
the first, and none on the last. These bands 
of down are very bright on young bees, but 
may be so worn off as to be almost or entire- 
ly wanting on an old bee, especially on 
those that have been in the habit of robbing 
very much. This is the explanation of the 
glossy blackness of robbers often seen dodg- 
ing about the hives. Perhaps squeezing 
through small crevices has thus worn off 
the down, or it may be that pushing through 



perhaps, all noticed the progeny of some par- 
ticular queen when they first came out to 
play, and pronounced them the handsomest 
bees you ever saw ; but a few months after, 
they would be no better looking than the 
rest of your bees. This is simply because 
they had worn off their handsome plumage, 
in the " stern realities " of hard work in the 
fields. Occasionally you will find a queen 
whose bees have bands nearly white in- 
stead of yellow, and this is what has led to 
the so-called albino bees. When the plum- 
age is gone, they are just like other Ital- 
ians. Now, these bands of down have noth- 
ing to do with the yellow bands that are 
characteristic of the Italians ; for, after this 
has worn off, the yellow bands are much 
plainer than before. A,B, C, are the yellow 
bands of which we have heard so much, 
and they are neither down, plumage, nor 
anything of that sort, as you will see by tak- 
ing a careful look at an Italian on the win- 
dow. The scale or horny substance of which 
the body is composed, is yellow, and almost 
transparent, not black and opaque, as are 



ITALIAN BEES. 



160 



ITALIAN BEES. 



the rings of the common bee, or the lower 
rings of the same insect. 
The first yellow band, A, is right down next 
the waist; now look carefully. It is very 
plain, when you once know what to look for, 
and no child need ever be mistaken about it. 

At the lower edge is the first black band ; 
this, is often only a thin sharp streak of black. 

The second, B, is the plainest of all the 
yellow bands, and can usually be seen in 
very the very poorest hybrids. The first 
band of down is seen where the black and 
yellow join, but it is so faint you will hardly 
notice it in some specimens. 

We have at the lower edge of the scale, as 
before, a narrow line of black; when the 
down wears off, this shows nearly as broad 
as the yellow band. 

Now we come on to disputed ground ; for 
the third band, C, is the one about which 
there is so much controversy. Some con- 
tend that a pure Italian should show it 
whether he is filled with honey or not; 
others, among whom was our friend Quinby, 
admit that a part of the bees would show it 
only when filled with honey. Now there are, 
without doubt, hives of bees that show this 
third band at all times, but it is pretty cer- 
tain that the greater part of the bees of 
Italy do not. The conclusion, then, is that 
the bees of Italy are not pure. Now, I think 
we should be careful about going to extremes 
in these matters, for it is honey, and not yel- 
low bands, that is the vital point. The bees 
from Italy are better honey-gatherers, etc., 
than ours are; and if we import from Italy, 
I think we should be satisfied to get such as 
they have, especially so far as the markings 
are concerned. 44 My advice is just this : If 
you are undecided in regard to a queen, get 
some of the bees that you are sure were 
hatched in her hive, and feed them all the 
honey they can take ; now put them on a 
window; and if the band, C, is not plainly 
visible, call them hybrids. I advise you to 
put them on the window, because you may 
mistake the band of down, which is often 
very plain and yellow, for the permanent 
yellow band, C. Now, the bees from Italy 
are not all alike, and the yellow bands have 
different shadings, as well as the bands of 
down; but they are always found there, so 
far as my experience goes, if examined with 
sufficient care. 

We have heard about bees having a fourth 
yellow band : this would have to come on L 
G ; but although we have made a great many 
examinations, we have never been able to 
find more than very bright yellow down, and 



no trace of the yellow in the horny scale, as 
we find it in A, B, and C. 45 

When we come to hybrids, we shall find a 
greater diversity; for while the bees from 
one queen are all pretty uniformly marked 
with two bands, another's will be of all sorts; 
some beautifully marked Italians, some pure 
black, others one or two banded. Some 

: will sting with great venom, while others 
with only one or two bands will be as peace- 
able as your best Italians. Without a 
doubt, many queens have been sent out as 

1 pure, that produced only hybrids ; but since 
my recent studies in the matter, I am pretty 

, well satisfied that I have sold several queens 

! as hybrids, that were really full-bloods. A 
very slight admixture of black blood will 
cause the band, C, to disappear on some of 
the bees, but we should be very careful in 
such matters to be sure that the bees in 
question were really hatched in the hive ; 
for bees of adjoining hives often mix to a 
considerable extent. If you examine a col- 
ony of blacks and one of hybrids that stand 
side by side, you will find many Italians 
among the blacks, and many blacks among 
the Italians. Take young bees that you are 
sine have hatched in the hive, and you will 
be pretty safe, but you can not readily distin- 
guish the third band until they are several 
days old. 

IIOLY-LAND AND CYPRIAN 15EES. 

' { June, 18S±— During the past two years 
there has been quite a little excitement over 
j two new races of bees brought over from the 
Old World by our most enterprising and 
j philanthropic friend D. A. Jones, of Beeton, 
I Ontario, Canada. They are called Cyprian 
| and Holy-Land bees, from the locality where 
he found them. The former, from the Isle 
; of Cyprus, seem to have been for many 
years isolated, and are a very distinct and 
uniform race. I at first glance called them 
very nice Italians ; and after seeing them 
the third season, I am strongly tempted to 
call them very nice Italians still. They have 
a few distinctive marks that enable an ex- 
pert to distinguish them, however, and their 
traits of temper are also different. I believe 
they have been mostly objected to on ac- 
count of the vindictive temper displayed by 
the progeny of some of the queens. AVe had 
handled them in our apiary several months 
before I discovered any difference ; but on 
opening the hive one day toward dusk, and 
being a little careless in handling the frames, 
I found I had a job on my hands (or, rather, 
in my face and hair)— a lot of enraged bees 
that even smoke did not bring into subjec- 



ITALIAN BEES. 



161 



ITALIAN BEES. 



tion. The Holy-Lands seem quiet enough, 
and the queens are enormously prolific ; but 
for some reason or other, at the present writ- 
ing quite a number of the friends are getting 
rid of them, and going back to the Italians 
again. A strong colony of them in our api- 
ary gathered enough natural stores to winter 
safely, when none of the Italians did. They, 
too, closely resemble the Italians, but are, if 
any thing, perhaps a trifle smaller. 

Jan. 1, 1883.— Since the above was written 
we have had a multitude of reports in regard 
to these new races of bees, and, 1 am glad to 
say, of a much more favorable nature. While 
the Cyprians are still voted vicious, the prog- 
eny of a cross with Italians are found to be 
very quiet, while they are so industrious that 
they have given the greatest yields of honey 
from the progeny of a single queen ever re- 
ported from any race. One colony, owned 
in Dresden, Texas, has given over 800 lbs. of 
honey, chiefly from the horsemint, or Monar- 
da punctata. The cross between the Holy- 
Lands and Italians also bids fair to be a 
wonderful help to us, especially in the mat- 
ter of queen-rearing. The queens are ex- 
ceedingly prolific, generally filling one frame 
complete with eggs before beginning on an- 
other, giving, when sealed, a solid mass of 
brood. If in any case a Holy-Land colony 
becomes queenless they will build a number 
of cells, exceeding by far that of any other 
known race. The queens that hatch from 
these are as strong and robust ; in fact, they 
often fly immediately on emerging from the 
cells. One of their peculiar characteristics 
is, that the cells all hatch at or about the 
same time. During the past summer we 
have had 25 queens hatch within 30 minutes 
from one frame. Other cases of like nature 
have been reported. Now, the fact that the 
Holy-Lands will raise such an abundance of 
cells is of great value to queen-breeders. 
Eor instance, if we desire a great quantity 
from some choice stock, we can exchange 
their unsealed larva? for that of a queenless 
Holy-Land colony. The stock, if left to it- 
self, would probably not raise over six or 
eight cells ; whereas the Holy-Lands would 
very likely raise five or possibly ten times 
that number. Thus we greatly reduce the 
number of cell-raising colonies required, at 
the same giving the others an opportunity to 
perform. In fact, we can use them much as 
poultry - breeders use a few select sitting 
hens for raising the young chicks from non- 
sitters. 

While these new races of bees so closely 
resemble Italians that very few would, in 



looking at them simply, note a difference, 
they differ widely in habits ; and by becom- 
ing accustomed to and familiar with these 
different habits, most of us have found we 
can handle them just about as well as we do 
the Italians. One of the first things to be 
noticed is a sort of fidgetty nervousness when 
the hive is first opened. If you hold up a 
frame of Italians, and even give it a gentle 
shake or jar, not a bee moves ; but they oft- 
en cling so closely it is hard to get them off. 
Not so the new bees, for they are off in a 
twinkling, and this feature makes it much 
easier in extracting, or shaking bees from 
the frames and cages, to be sold by the 
pound. The common bees and Italians are 
readily subdued by smoke ; but these, when 
fully aroused, seem to be made more furious 
by smoke, unless it is given in such a very 
large quantity as to almost suffocate them. 

Italians and blacks seldom show laying 
workers until the hive has been at least sev- 
eral days queenless, and without brood ; but 
these bees will often have a score of workers 
laying almost as soon as their queen is taken 
away. The wonderful energy of the new 
races makes it next to impossible for them 
to be robbed ; and the Cyprians especially 
seem to be so impatient if a robber bee so 
much as buzzes in front of their hives, that 
they will often dart out and take him on the 
wing, when a foot or more from the hive. 
This unexpected reception so disconcerts the 
would-be pilferers that they very soon go off 
somewhere else. This same trait makes it 
also difficult to unite colonies in the fall, with 
a Cyprian stock, and we found it next to im- 
possible to give bees, by any method we 
could devise, to the bees from our imported 
Cyprian. After they are crossed with the 
Italians this trait mostly disappears, how- 
ever. When the new races get started to 
robbing, they are robbers in earnest; but, 
unlike the Italians or blacks, they very soon 
get over it and go to work, when there is no 
further opportunity to make any thing at it. 
They are not inclined to buzz before one's 
eyes for hours together in that tantalizing 
and provoking way our old-fashioned hy- 
brids often do. If they have any stinging to 
do they do it, and then go about something 
else. 

The Holy-Land bees, when young or first 
hatched, have a downy appearance that en- 
titles them to the name of " albinos " much 
more, in my opinion, than any of our light- 
colored Italians. This, however, is shown 
much more in the progeny of some queens 
than others. In size they are, when not 



ITALIANIZING. 



162 



ITALIANIZING. 



tilled with honey, rather smaller than the 
Italians, but their bodies seem to elongate, 
when tilled with honey, rather more than 
the Italians do. When crossed with the 
Italians the bees seem rather larger than 
either race pure. Holy-Land queens have 
usually a ringed appearance that distin- 
guishes them, or even an admixture, from 
the Italians. The queens, also, have a way 
of "striding" over the combs, peculiar to 
themselves. A friend expresses it well by 
saying they walk about among the bees like 
a turkey among a lot of hens. 

As for wintering, there is not much differ- 
ence between the two races and the ordinary 
Italians; and whatever is true of the one 
race is true in a greater or less degree of the 
other. 

ITALIANIZING. Few questions are 
asked of tener than, "How shall I Italianize? 
and when shall I do it?" There is always a 
loss in removing a queen and substituting 
another, even where we have laying queens 
on hand ; and where we are to use the same 
colony for rearing a queen, there is a still 
greater loss. Under the head of Artificial 
Swarming and Queen - rearing, these 
points are fully discussed. Where one has 
an apiary of black bees, his cheapest way, 
especially if he has plenty of time to devote 
to the subject, is to purchase a choice tested 
queen, and rear his own queens from her. 
If he has as many as a dozen colonies, and 
proposes to continue to increase the number, 
it may be his best and surest way, to pur- 
chase an imported queen. If the choice 
queen is purchasad in the spring or summer 
months, I would not remove the old queens, 
until the summer crop of honey is over; but, 
instead of allowing natural swarming, take 
two or three frames from each old stock 
about swarming time, and make nuclei, 
giving them queen - cells from the Italian 
brood. When these queens are hatched and 
laying, build the nuclei up, with frames of 
brood given one at a time, until they are full 
stocks. By such a course, you have the full 
benefit of your old queens during the honey- 
season, until the new ones are ready to take 
their place. After the honey-yield has be- 
gun to cease, you can remove the old queens, 
and give the now small colonies queen cells, 
as you did the nuclei at first. This does the 
swarming for the season, and the Italian- 
izing, at one and the same time. 



If you have more money than time to 
spare, and wish to have the work done up 
quickly, purchase as many queens as you 
have colonies, and introduce them at any 
season of the year, as directed in Intro- 
ducing Queens. You can purchase all 
tested queens if you wish, but I would ad- 
vise taking the dollar queens, while there is 
any great difference in price. 

After your stocks have all been provided 
with Italian queens, by either of the plans 
given above, if you wish your bees to be 
pure Italians, you are to commence replac- 
ing all queens that prove to be hybrids, as 
soon as the young bees are hatched in suffi- 
cient numbers to enable you to decide. See 
Italian Bees. Now, if honey only is your 
object, I would not replace these hybrids, 
until they are one or two years old ; for they 
will average nearly as well as honey-gather- 
ers, and will raise just as pure drones, as full 
blood Italians. If vou should find the bees 
of any particular queen too cross to be en- 
durable, replace her with another, at any 
time. Be careful, however, that these hy- 
brid colonies are not allowed to swarm 
naturally, or, if they raise a queen, she will 
produce hybrid drones ; and this is some- 
thing we wish scrupulously to guard against. 
It will be better to raise all the queens your- 
self, and practice artificial swarming exclu- 
sively, while you are seeking to Italianize, 
especially if you are surrounded with com- 
mon bees. If you practice in the manner 
given above, you can reap the full benefit of 
the Italian blood, even though there are 
hundreds of stocks of the common bees 
within the range of your apiary. But, if you 
are going to raise queens for the market, 
you should buy up or Italianize all the com- 
mon bees within two or three miles of you, 
in every direction. The more faithfully you 
do this, the better satisfaction will you give 
your customers. Your neighbors will very 
soon be converted to the Italians, it* you 
keep right along and let crops of honey, 
rather than talk, decide the matter, and 
then they will be quite willing to pay you 
for introducing Italian queens into their 
colonies. Be sure you do not quarrel, and 
foster any bad spirit in the matter, but let 
them have their own way, even if it, at 
times, is aggravating ; and, in a very few 
years, you will succeed in having your whole 
neighborhood Italianized. 




A SCOTTISn APIARY. 



KING -BIRDS. Quite a number of 
the feathered tribes have a fashion of eating 
bees. Even our common fowls sometimes 
get into the habit of gobbling them, with as 
little fear of consequences as if they were 
the most harmless insect in the world. It is 
quite likely that birds have a way of crush- 
ing their prey with their bills so as to pre- 
vent the possibility of the bee's using its 
sting. It has been suggested that the birds 
and fowls eat only the drones ; but several 
examinations of their crops showed that it 
is, without question, the workers, and it is 
quite probable that the honey contained in 
the honey - sac is the principal inducement. 

Mr. T. L. Waite, of Berea, O., furnishes 
some very positive evidence, and also men- 
lions a habit of the king-bird, I think is not 
generally known to naturalists. During the 
month of June, '72, a flock of seven of these 
birds were making such regular and con- 
stant visits to his apiary that his suspicions 
were aroused, and, concealing himself, with 
watch in hand, he observed a single bird 
snap up 5 to 8 per minute. After having 



pursued this "innocent" amusement for a 
sufficient interval, his birdship was in the 
habit of taking a rest on a neighboring tree, 
where, after a short meditation, he com- 
menced a series of muscular contortions of 
the head and neck, that finally resulted in his 
opening his mouth wide, and "heaving up" 
a wad of some strange black-looking sub- 
stance. By chance their perch was close 
over a bed of rhubarb or pie-plant, and our 
friend secured a number of these wads as 
they fell, and thus settled the point of their 
being nothing more nor less than crushed 
bees. After they had "squeezed" out all 
the honey, probably having no further use 
for the "pomace," it was unceremoniously 
cast aside, while his worship, with a keen ap- 
petite and zest for the sport, went " bee- 
hunting" again. They came regularly for a 
"meal" two or three times a day. I guess 
we had better use our rifles and shot-gunsjin 
such a way as to induce them to learn that 
apiaries are " unhealthy " localities for such 
boarders. 




11 




A KAILIIOAD AI'IAIIY, BELONGING TO M. A. WILLIAMS & 'O.. IiEUKSHIUE, N. Y. 



ZiAIVEF 3XrUB.SEB.ir. Many have ob- 
served that, in hot weather, if queen - cells 
are taken out just before they are ready to 
hatch, the queens will sometimes gnaw out 
just as well as if they were with the bees. 
It is also known, that queens just emerging 
from the cell may generally be allowed to 
crawl among the bees of any hive, and will, 
as a rule, be well received. Taking advan- 
tage of these two facts, our neighbor, Mr. 
F. E. Shaw, of Chatham, Medina Co., O., in 
the fall of 1873, constructed the first lamp 
nursery. This first machine worked well 
enough to demonstrate the feasibility of the 
plan, but, as he depended entirely on hot air 
to keep up the requisite temperature, it was 
quite liable to destroy the cells by the un- 
evenness of the temperature. The day after 
I visited him, I noticed that the copper res- 
ervoir on our Stewart stove was sufficiently 
warm to hatch queens, although no fire had 
been in the stove for more than 15 hours, 
and the last night had been cool. This gave 
me the idea of using a considerable body of 
water ; and before night, I had a hive made 
with double walls of tin, as shown in the cut 
below. 





LA3IP NURSERY, 



The space between the two walls is, per- 
haps, one inch, and extends under the bot- 
tom, as well as around the sides, that the 
body of water may entirely surround the 



contents of the nursery, except on the top. 
The top is to be covered with a quilt, or a 
warm blanket. The whole should be used 
in a room well protected from the changes 
of the weather. It may be kept in a large 
box, but it is not nearly as convenient as a 
room. As accidents sometimes happen to 
lamps, I would set the lamp in a tall stove, 
one of the kind that will admit of the top's 
being taken off, and set the nursery over it. 
The top of the lamp chimney should be 
about a foot below the nursery. A second- 
hand stove, such as was mentioned for mak- 
ing Candy for Bees, will answer every 
purpose. Such a body of water between two 
sheets of tin will cause them to bulge badly 
unless we put a brace across from one to the 
other in the center on each side ; the posi- 
tion of these braces is shown by the tin cap 
that covers them in the cut. Light your 
lamp, turn on a strong blaze, and watch un- 
til the thermometer, which should be kept 
inside the nursery, shows between 90 and 
100°, then turn down the wick, until the 
temperature remains about there. If it gets 
much above 100, the cells may be injured ; 
and it should not be allowed to fall much 
below £0. We are now ready for our queen 
cells. 

HOW TO GET CELLS FOR THE NURSERY. 

You can cut out queen - cells from any 
place in the apiary, and lay them in the nur- 
sery; but as we wish to avoid cutting such 
unsightly looking holes in our combs, it is 
better to take the whole frame, cells and all. 
Shake and brush off every bee, and hang the 
frame in the nursery just as you would in 
the hive. Get frames from different hives, 
until you have the nursery full, if you like. 
The reason we have the nursery so large, is 
that it may contain a great number of 
frames having queen-cells. Now you find a 
trouble right here ; the worker - bees will 
hatch and bite out in this warm temperature 
just as well as the queens ; and very soon 
we shall have a smart hive of bees, and be 
no better off than in an outdoor hive. You 



LAMP NURSERY. 



168 



LAMP NURSERY. 



can take out these young bees as fast as 
they hatch and give them to some colony 
that needs them, or start nuclei with them; 
but this is so much trouble, I would advise a 
better way. 

nOW TO AVOID HAVING ANY WORKER-BEES 
IN THE NURSERY. 

You will recollect, that a worker-bee can 
not hatch out in less than 20 or 21 days from 
the egg, while the queen hatches in about 
16. Well, if we get all of our cells, by giving 
a frame of very young larvae to the colony 
building them, the queens will be all out of 
the comb several days before a worker can 
hatch. This is the way we do it: Get a 
clean new worker comb, or, better still, a 
sheet of fdn., and place it in the center of 
the hive where your best queen is. Let it 
remain until the first eggs laid in it have 
hatched into minute larvae, as explained in 
Artificial Swarming. Hang this frame 
in any queeuless colony having no other 
unsealed brood, and they will at once build 
queen-cells upon it. If you will cut two ob- 
long slots in the comb, many think you will 
thus secure a greater number of cells ; but, 
as this disligures and mutilates the combs, 
1 have not followed the plan much, since 
using the nursery. The frame can be taken 
out of the hive, and placed in the nursery, 
as soon as the queen-cells are capped over; 
but, as much of the unsealed worker-larvae 
would not be capped over by this time, I 
would prefer to wait until 8 or 9 days after 
the frame was first given them. All worker- 
brood will then be capped over, so that none 
of it will starve and die. and the queen-cells 
will be so far advanced that but little dan- 
ger need be feared from shaking the bees 
off, or from handling them. After taking 
their cells away, you can give them a second , 
lot of small larvae to start cells from, or you 
can give them a young queen from the nur- 
sery, as is most convenient. If you can so j 
manage as to give them a queen after rear- 1 
ing a lot of queen-cells, and thus alternating, 
you will probably have less trouble in intro- | 
ducing. If you keep adding fresh combs or 
cells to your nursery every day, you will j 
soon have queens hatching almost hourly, 
and sometimes three or four will come out 
of their cells almost simultaneously. 46 By 
holding the comb of cells up to your ear, you 
can easily hear the queen biting her way 
through the capping with her strong mandi- I 
bles. If the cells are built on new combs, or \ 
fdn., you can see the motions of the queen, 
by holding the comb up to the sun or a ' 
strong lamp-light, and these motions com- i 



mence from 10 to 24 hours before the queen 
is ready to come forth. Taking advantage 
of these facts, we will remove, in the eve- 
ning, all queens that seem likely to hatch be- 
fore morning. Where the cells are built on 
new sheets of fdn., the queen, cell and all, 
can be picked off the sheet, without even so 
much as making a hole through the comb; 
and I have found this an excellent way of 
introducing, to take the queen in the cell, as 
soon as she begins to move about, and place 
it in the hive or nucleus where wanted. 
Queens that are found hatched and crawling 
around in the nursery, in the morning, 
should be taken at once to the queenless 
hives or nuclei waiting for them. Be sure 
that the hive is queenless, and then just set 
them down in front of the entrance, and let 
them crawl in. I have found this plan as 
good as to open the hive. It seems almost 
ridiculous, to think we can carry these vir- 
gin queens around and let them run into the 
hives, and find them laying a week after- 
ward, without any further trouble, but it is 
something we have done a great many times. 
To introduce them in this way to a hive that 
has just had a laying queen taken from it, is 
a little more uncertain, yet we have done it, 
and there is one very decided advantage in 
so doing ; because the colony will then, at 
no time, be out of unsealed brood. 47 The sav- 
ing in time by giving a colony a bright live 
queen, instead of a queen-cell which may 
not hatch inside of 3 or 4 days (perhaps not 
at all), is quite an item. The first queen 
that hatches, one would suppose, would tear 
down all the rest of the cells, as she does in 
the hive ; but such is not the case, where 
there are no worker-bees present, as in the 
lamp nursery. It is true, we occasionally 
find a queen tearing open the other cells 
when left too long, but not often. They do 
sometimes, also, sting each other ; but, if 
they are looked after the first thing in the 
morning and the last thing at night, very 
few will be lost from this cause. Some un- 
sealed honey should be found in the cells, 
for these queens are very fond of a good 
" square meal," about as soon as they have 
had time to stretch themselves. I have no- 
ticed that they seem to have a preference for 
newly gathered, thin honey; and as the hon- 
ey in the open cells gets quite thick after be- 
ing exposed to this high temperature, it has 
lately occurred to me that some diluted 
honey, as soon as they are hatched, might be 
better for them. 48 

INTRODUCING VIRGIN QUEENS. 

Although these young queens, like newly 



LAMP NURSERY 



169 



LAMP NURSERY 



hatched chickens, or young puppies and kit- 
tens, are disposed to take up with the first 
animated object they set their eyes on, yet 
there has been considerable trouble in intro- 
ducing them. With weak stocks or nuclei, 
that have been a day or two queenless, there 
is little trouble; and, in fact, the bees of a 
large colony will allow these young queens 
to crawl in without a word of objection at 
the time, in the majority of cases; but when 
they get a day or two older, then comes the 
difficulty. I have not been able to discover 
how the trouble comes about; but so many 
of them are found in front of the hive, either 
dead or just able to crawl, that I have rath- 
er given up introducing them to full stocks, 
unless they have been some time queenless. 
To our old friend Langstroth, the credit 
principally belongs, I believe, of discovering 
that virgin queens could be introduced gen- 
erally, when first hatched. The following 
valuable* account of it, I extract from the 
American Bee Journal for July, 1871 : 

ON THE INTRODUCTION OF YOUNG QUEENS TO COLO- 
NIES THAT ARE QUEENLESS. 

Some ten years ago I was led to suspect that the 
ordinary statements of Huber and other eminent 
apiarians, with regard to the antipathy of bees, under 
all circumstances, to a change of queens, was incor- 
rect. Eminent writers have supposed that it would 
not be safe to introduce even a queen-cell to a colo- 
ny until twenty-four hours had elapsed after the 
old queen had been removed. 

In experimenting with Italian bees, short ly after 
their introduction to this country, I soon ascer- 
tained that this was an entire mistake, and that 
queen-cells could be safely introduced, under ordi- 
nary circumstances, immediately after the removal 
of the queen.* This led me to experiment further 
in the same direction. Supposing that, perhaps, the 
hatching of a young queen in the colony might re- 
concile them at once to her presence, I introduced, 
to queenless colonies, cells, the lids of which were 
being gnawed open by the young queen. In some 
instances these queens hatched in less than five 
minutes after the cells were inserted, and I found 
them to be unmolested, although the hive had been 
unqueened but a few moments before their intro- 
duction. 

I now began to suspect that there might be some- 
thing in the young queens themselves, either in 
their actions, or in their odor, or their voice, or 
want of voice, which made the bees indisposed to 
disturb them. Therefore, after unqueening the 
hive, I introduced at once queens just hatched, and 
found them almost invariably well received. The 
bees would occasionally seem to manifest some sur- 
prise at their presence, and, probably, if they could 
have spoken their feelings in words, would have 
said inquiringly, " Does jour mother know you're 
out?" 



* Instead of the circumlocution of saying— remov- 
ing a queen from a hive, or giving a queen to a hive 
—I propose to use as more definite terms,- the words 
unaueening a hive, or queening a Mve. 



If the queens were too young, they were some- 
times dragged out of the hive, just as imperfect bees 
are removed by workers. I next discovered, that, 
in many instances, these young queens could be put 
upon the very comb where the old mother was, and 
yet be undisturbed by the bees. In order to test this 
matter more thoroughly, after introducing a just- 
hatched queen and finding her well received, I would 
place upon the same comb an unfertile queen sev- 
eral days old. The bees would at once attack her 
furiously, confine, and speedily destroy her. It 
would seem, therefore, that under ordinary circum- 
stances, young queens which have not yet attained 
their proper color, and perhaps the power of piping, 
may be introduced at once to queenless colonies. I 
have availed myself of this discovery largely, in 
breeding Italian queens; it being a common prac- 
tice with me as soon as the queen of a nucleus has 
laid a suitable number of eggs to test her purity, to 
cage her, and at once introduce a queen not more 
than five or six hours old. It may be that it would 
be safe to introduce queens even a day old; but my 
practice has been to select for this purpose such as 
had very recently hatched. When the young queen 
thus introduced becomes fertile, and has laid a 
proper number of eggs, I cage her in turn and intro- 
duce still another. And thus I am able, with one 
nucleus, to accomplish in queen-raising, as much as 
is ordinarily done with two or three. 

Occasionally I have known the workers to destroy 
these young queens, if not immediately, still within 
a few hours after their introduction. I do not, 
therefore, recommend the practice above described 
to those who have very few queens, nor wou Id I risk 
a young queen which I valued very highly. But, as 
under ordinary circumstances, the breeder has oft- 
en more queens than he knows what "to do with, he 
can easily dispose of them in the way above de- 
scribed. 

In order, at times, to secure a suitable number of 
queens for this purpose, I have been accustomed to 
condense into one colony a very large number of 
queen-cells of about the same age, inspecting the 
colony about every hour in the day, and removing 
queens as fast as they hatched, and before Ihey had 
an opportunity to destroy each other or the other 
queen cells. These same combs may be returned at 
night to their proper nuclei. 

The expert will know how to avail himself of the 
plans which I have suggested, and how to modify 
them to suit his circumstances. 

L. L. Langstroth. 

Oxford, Ohio, June, 1871. 

It may be "well to remark, that these vir- ; 
gin queens are introduced to full-blood Ital- 
ians, with much less trouble than to either 
blacks or hybrids ; they are also accepted by 
a small colony or nucleus, better than by a 
full hive ; and by any hive that has been a 
day or two queenless, better than by one 
from which a laying queen has just been 
taken. With the lamp nursery it is an easy 
matter to raise queens by the thousand, at a 
cost generally not exceeding 25 c. each ; but 
the most expensive part of the work comes 
afterward — getting them fertilized. At 
present I know of no better way than the 
one given in Queen-rearing and Artifi- 



LAMP NURSERY. 



170 



LOCUST. 



cial, Swarming (giving each queen a small 
colony); but we shall doubtless make rapid 
progress in the matter, if the demand for 
queens continues to increase as it lias of 
late. 

The introducing part of the lamp nursery 
plan of rearing queens is the one great ob- 
stacle, and it is evident that there is some- 
thing about it not fully mastered ; for, at 
times, we succeed so nicely with every 
queen that it seems as if there were no need 
of failures at all; but, again, almost every 
queen is lost. It was suggested, a few years 
ago, when these queens hatched by artificial 
heat were first put into the market, that 
they would prove less hardy ; but I believe 
that such has not proven to be the case, for 
some of our best stocks have been built up 
from these, and they have proved just as 
long-lived as any. 

After your combs have been in the nur- 
sery a few days, you will have to keep a look- 
out for moth-worms, or they will get into 
your queen cells, and make trouble. See 
Bee-moth. 



LOCUST. This tree is so well known as 
scarcely to need a description. It grows 
very rapidly, and bears blossoms at a very 
early age; and could we be assured of hav- 
ing regularly the crop of honey that the lo- 
cust bears perhaps one year in five, I should 
at once plant a locust-grove exclusively for 
honey. It blossoms profusely almost every 
season; but the bees often pay no attention 
at all to the flowers. 

The honey comes at a time when it is very 
much needed, as it is a little later than the 
fruit-bloom, and a little earlier than white 
clover. If any thing could be done by a se- 
lection of different varieties, or by cultiva- 
tion, to make it bear honey every season, 
a locust-grove would be a very valuable ad- 
dition to the honey-farm. 

The leaf of the locust much resembles the 
leaf of the clover, only it has a great number 
of leaves on a stem instead of only three ; 
the blossom is much like that of the common 
pea, both in appearance and size. It is an 
interesting fact, that the locust, pea, and 
clover, all belong to the same order, Legumi- 




" SUNNY SIDE ' APIAUY. BELONGINO TO 
C. II. LAKE, BALTIMORE, JID, 



'OTHEU" SIDE (OF TOE HOUSE) ALSO 
BELONGING TO FRIEND LAKE. 



M. 



K£IG 3MONBTET27E {Beseda odoraia). 
We have had little practical experience with 
this plant, beyond a small patch of the tall 
variety in the garden. Although this kind 
did not have the perfume of the ordinary 
small kind, it was humming with bees for 
months ; and, as they work on it all day, it 
will prove valuable for keeping them busy 
during the fall months. The following we 
extract from Lane's catalogue: 

"If cultivated to that extent that it might or ought 
to be, it would certainly furnish a rich pasturage for 
bees. A small patch of it will perfume the air for 
quite a distance; and were it cultivated by acres for 
bee-pasturage alone, we should be favored with a 
fragrant atmosphere that would vie with the spicy 
breezes of Ceylon, and a honey that would outdo the 
famed honey of Hymettus for aromatic flavor. 

"It blossoms in the latter part of June, and contin- 
ues in bloom until cold weather (heavy frosts do not 
injure it); indeed, we are informed by our Southern 
friends that with them it continues in full bloom 
during the entire winter. There are many varieties, 
but we think all are inferior, for field culture, to 
Parson's New Giant. The seeds, which are very 
small, should be sown in the spring, sowing thinly 
and covering lightly, in drills at least three feet 
apart. Would not advise sowing broadcast." 

Dscembsr, 187J. — We have had a half-acre 
on our honey - farm, of different varieties, 
during the past season. Although visited 
by the bees for several months, at all hours 
in the day, it has not compared at all with 
the Simpson honey-plant. A small patch in 
the garden, on very rich soil, did very much 
better. 

MILKWEED ( Asdepias Gornuti). This 
plant is celebrated, not for the honey it pro- 
duces, although it doubtless furnishes a 
good supply, but for its queer, winged mass- 
es of pollen, which attach themselves to the 
bee's feet, and cause him to become a crip- 
ple, if not to lose his life. Every fall, we 
have many inquiries from new subscribers, 
in regard to this queer phenomenon. Some 
think it a parasite, others a protuberance 
growing on the bee's foot, and others a 
winged insect-enemy of the bee. We give 
above an engraving of the curiosity, magni- 
fied at a ; and also of a mass of them attached 
to the foot of a bee. 

It is the same that Prof. Kiley alluded to, 
when he recommended that the milkweed 



be planted to kill off the bees when they be- 
come troublesome to the fruit-grower. The 




POLLEN OF THE MILKWEED, ATTACHED TO 
A BEE'S FOOT. 

folly of such advice — think of the labor and 
expense of starting a plantation of useless 
weeds just to entrap honey-bees— becomes 
more apparent when we learn that it is per- 
haps only the old and enfeebled bees that 
are unable to free themselves from these ap- 
pendages, and hence the milkweed can 
scarcely be called an enemy. The append- 
age, it will be observed, looks like a pair of 
wings, and they attach themselves to the bee 
by a glutinous matter which quickly hard- 
ens, so that it is quite difficult to remove, if 
not done when it is first attached. 

MOTHSRWOET {Leonurus Cardi- 
aca.) Quite a number of the bee-folks in- 
sist that motherwort is superior, as a honey- 
plant, to either catnip, hoarhound, balni^ 
wild bergamot, or any of the large family 
of Labiatce, and I presume such may be the 
case under some circumstances, or in favor- 




MOTIIEKWOKT. 

able localities. In comparing plants, it 
should be remembered, that those which 



MOVING BEES. 



172 



MOVING BEES. 



Usually bear much honey may, at times, 
furnish none at all ; and also those which 
usually furnish none may, under very favor- 
able circumstances, yield largely. 49 

This plant often nourishes about fence- 
corners, and around the ruins of old dwell- 
ings, sheds, or even hog-pens. The large 
leaf, taken by itself, much resembles the 
currant ; the stalk is much like catnip ; and 
the little flowers are in tufts, close to the 
stalk. It remains in blossom a long time, 
and may be as worthy of cultivation as any 
of the plants of its class. 

MOVING BEES. Perhaps about as 
many mishaps, especially with beginners, 
have come about from moving bees unwise- 
ly, as from any other one cause. A little 
thought in regard to the habits and ways of 
bees would save much of this. Bees fly from 
their hives in quest of stores, perhaps a mile; 
sometimes a mile and a half or two miles; 
but they will seldom go beyond these limits, 
unless at a time of great scarcity of pastur- 
age.™ Well, after a bee has once hxed his lo- 
cality, he starts out in the morning on a run, 
and never stops to take the points, as he 
does the first time lie sallies out from a new 
locality. The consequence is, if you have 
moved his hive, either in the night or day 
time, and have not moved it more than a 
mile, he will, when he goes back, strike di- 
rectly for his old locality. On reaching there 
and finding his hive gone, he is lost and 
helpless; and even though the hive may be 
but a few rods away, he will never find it in 
the world. New hands frequently move 
their hives close together at the approach of 
winter, that they may better protect them 
with chaff or straw. I do not know how 
many times mishaps resulting from this kind 
of proceeding have been related to me. All 
goes very well, perhaps, until we have a 
warm day; then the bees start out for a fly, 
and very naturally return to their home just 
as they have been doing all summer; if no 
one is near to restore their hive to its former 
location, they fly helplessly around for a 
while, and then alight on the trees and fenc- 
es, scattered about, and finally perish. If 
other hives are near, they will get into the 
Avrong hives and get stung; or, if their num- 
bers are great enough, they will sting the 
queen, because she is a stranger to them. 
Sometimes the bees of the whole apiary will 
become so mixed up, that they have a gen- 
eral melee and fight, resulting in great dam- 
age, if not in the destruction, of many of the 
swarms. Moving hives short distances dur- 
ing the working season is almost always 



done with loss of more or less bees, and con- 
sequently honey. 

It is true, bees may sometimes be moved 
without loss, for there is quite a difference 
in the disposition of colonies; and where one 
may be moved all about the yard without 
any apparent loss, the next may suffer, if 
moved only a few feet. I once purchased a 
very strong colony of blacks of a neighbor, 
and, to be on the safe side, moved them on 
a cold clay in Dec. I should think it was a 
week afterward when it became warm, and 
the bees went back to their old home in such 
numbers that the first cold night froze out 
the remaining ones, and I lost my stock en- 
tirely. At another time, a neighbor wished 
me to take a swarm from a very strong stock 
of blacks. As I had but little time, I set an- 
other hive in its place, containing a frame 
of brood and a queen - cell, and moved the 
old one several rods away. He told me next 
day that the bees had all found their old 
home, and deserted the brood-comb entirely. 
I directed him to move it again, and place 
it the other side of the orchard; but it seems 
these wily blacks had learned the trick, for 
they all found it even there. Italians, as a 
general thing, are more ready to take up 
with a new location than the blacks, and stick 
more tenaciously to their home and brood. 

Sometimes, shaking the bees all in front 
of the hive, and letting them run in 
like a natural swarm, will answer to make 
them stick to their new locality ; at other 
times, moving the hive away for an hour or 
two, until they get really frightened at the 
loss of their home, will have the same effect, 
after it is once brought back to them. In 
this case, they seem so glad to get their dear 
old home again, that they will adhere to it 
wherever it is placed. Neither of these plans 
can be relied on implicitly, and I really do 
not know of any that can.* Sometimes we 
succeed by leaving a comb for the returning 
bees to cluster on, and then take them to the 
new stand just at nightfall. When allowed 
to run in, they exhibit their joy by loud 
notes of approval, but, just as likely as not, 
they will be back at the old spot the next 
day, just the same. With patience, we can 
by this means save most of them. As a 
natural swarm will stay wherever they are 
put, any thing that reduces a colony to the 
condition of a natural swarm will accom- 
plish our object. Bees depend very much 
on the surrounding objects, in taking their 
points ; and I have known a whole apiary ^o 



* Placing- a board, or other object, over the en- 
trance so as to hinder the bees a little as they come 
out, is sometimes practiced to make them return. 



MOVING BEES. 



i73 



MOVING BEES\ 



be successfully moved a short distance, by 
moving all the hives, and preserving their 
respective positions with reference to each 
other. Carrying bees into the cellar for sev- 
eral days or a week will usually wean them 
from their location, so that they may then 
be located anywhere; but this plan is ob- 
jectionable, insomuch as the colony is pre- 
vented, for that length of time, from doing 
any work in the field, and this is quite an 
item in the height of the season. Where 
we wish to divide a swarm, the matter is 
very easy, for we can carry our stock where 
we wish, and start a nucleus of the return- 
ing bees. The usual way, and by far the 
easiest where it can be done, is to wait until 
winter, and move them after they have 
been confined to the hive for several weeks 
by cold weather. Bees moved in the spring 
seldom go back to their old quarters, for 
they generally take their location when they 
take their first flight, whether they have 
been moved or not. Bees can also be moved 
short distances, in warm weather, by taking 
them a mile or more, leaving them a couple 
of weeks, and then bringing them back to 
the spot where you wish them to remain. 
This plan, with me, would be too much 
trouble and expense to be practicable gen- 
erally. 

Where the new location is a mile or more 
distant they can be moved any time, and I 
have known them to be moved only half a 
mile, without any noticeable number going 
back to their old locality. If bees are to be 
moved during hot weather, great care should 
be used that they be not smothered and their 
combs melted down by the intense heat that 
is generated where they have an insufficient 
quantity of air. After many mishaps in 
shipping bees in the summer time, we have 
now decided on covering both the top and 
bottom of the Simplicity hive with wire 
cloth. When thus prepared we have never 
had any trouble, even when shipping them 
during our hottest July and Aug. weather. 
When we depended on wire cloth over the 
top only, or over the portico of the old-style 
L. hives, we have invariably heard that the 
combs were melted down, and that the 
honey was running out at the sides of the 
hive. Allow a draft of air right through the 
hive, and the bees will take care of them- 
selves, and the combs filled with honey. As 
the chaff hive will not admit of this arrange- 
ment, I would recommend that the bees be 
taken out, in very hot weather, and shipped 
in the Simplicity hive; that is, just the body, 
without any top or bottom. If you are pur- 




chasing bees in a common box hive, you can 
turn the hive over, aud tack wire cloth over 
the bottom ; but if the colony is a powerful 
one, and the weather hot, I would much 
rather have a wire-cloth covered opening in 
the top, as well as bottom. The hives, 
when thus prepared, may be carried in a 
spring wagon or buggy, or even in a lumber 
wagon, if you drive slowly. Where it can 
be done, I would spread straw under the 
hives and pack it around the sides ; this will 
prevent jolting. 

Of course, every comb is to be made per- 
fectly secure, where the bees are to be 
shipped by rail, or entrusted to any who may 
not give them careful handling. We fasten 
the metal - cornered 
frames by what we 
call spacing-boards, 
shown in adjoining 
'cut. Three of these 
boards are put in at 
each end of the hive, 

SPACING-BOARD. aM they &re of guch 

thickness, and so grooved, that nine combs 
are thus held securely, so that the whole 
are now ready to tack on the wire cloth. 
We use a cheap, painted wire cloth. If the 
cover, bottom-board, quilt, enameled sheet, 
etc., are to go with the bees, I would attach 
them to the bottom with strips of lath, leav- 
ing a space of an inch fox the air to circulate 
between the lower wire cloth and the attach- 
ments. If the upper story is to be sent with 
the hive, I would make a separate package 
for it. 

It is quite important that none but old and 
tough combs be used, when shipping bees 
by rail. The beautiful new combs built on 
the foundation would be very nice to send 
out to customers, but they would be almost 
sure to break down, unless wired as on page 
56. Bees can be sent by freight, and I have 
sent them safely in that way as far as Mas- 
sachusetts ; but, as a general thing, I think 
I would risk them only by express. 

Where bees are to be moved in a wagon or 
buggy, and the colony is an old one with the 
combs all bridged over from one to another, 
I would not go to the trouble of putting the 
sticks in, for I have always found them to 
move safely without, even if they are in met- 
al-cornered frames. Have them well venti- 
lated and handled carefully, of course. 

If bees are to be sent long distances, be 
sure they have a good supply of stores, for 
the excitement attendant on the confine- 
ment and jolting about will sometimes cause 
them to consume honey enormously. On 



MOVING BEES. 



174 



MUSTAKD. 



this account I would be very careful about 
moving bees needlessly. Carrying bees into 
cellars and out again many times during the 
winter, I should object to, just on this ac- 
count; especially if we can winter them just 
as well without so doing. Fix a permanent 
stand for your bees, give them a good chaff 
hive, and they, as well as yourself, will be 
spared much annoyance, if they can be al- 
lowed to remain there year after year. 

If you wish to move bees during the day- 
time, while many are in the fields, you can 
get them nearly all in by smoking them at 
Intervals for about half an hour. This will 
give those that are out time to come in, and 
the smoking will prevent any more going 
out. If the colony is a very strong one, leave 
a hive with a comb of brood on the old stand, 
and the owner can start a nucleus very con- 
veniently with the returning bees. 

It is quite desirable that the express agents 
should handle bees carefully, and the sight 
of them buzzing about just under the wire 
cloth is, usually, a guarantee of safe hand- 
ling; but, as many do not know how to han- 
dle and take care of bees, we have of late 
had a large printed card tacked to all the 
hives and nuclei sent out. Since doing this, 
we have never had any complaints of dam- 
age in transit. The card reads as follows: 

KILLED! 

This Hive contains Live Bees, and they will 
be "Killed" if roughly handled, or left in the 
Sun, or not kept This Side Up. Will you 
please be careful of the little fellows? 

A. I. ROOT, Medina, O. 

As soon as you receive bees, place them at 
once where they are to stand permanently, 
and let them out as quickly as possible. 
They will buzz about, and make quite a 
stir for a while, but all will get back to their 
hive safely, for their buzzing about is just 
to mark their new locality, as we described 
in Bee-hunting. Set the hive level, and I 
would have it square and true witli the 
points of the compass. Set it on the bottom- 
board, loosen the wire cloth where the en- 
trance is to be, and then let them remain 
until they get acquainted with the surround- 
ings a little. Next day, if you choose, you 
can take off the wire cloth, and remove the 
sticks, using smoke, of course, to keep them 
out of the way. When this is done, put on 
the enameled sheet and cover, and adjust 
the hive on the bottom-board so that the 
bees can get out and in comfortably, but do 
not make the entrance larger, unless the 
weather is extremely warm. Your next 
work is to learn to handle the frames, and 



to get acquainted with. the bees. If you 
should take the frames out and look at the 
queen, and see how they get along with 
brood - rearing, etc., every day, I should be 
much more sanguine of their prosperity, 
than if you looked at them only once a week. 
After they are accustomed to your daily and 
careful handling, you will find that you can 
get along without smoke, veil, or any thing 
of the kind. 

MUSTARD [Sinapis arvensis.) This 
belongs to the same family as the turnip, 
cabbage, rape, etc., all of which, I believe, 
almost invariably furnish honey while they 
are in bloom. We have a good opportunity 
of testing these plants, because acres of 
them are raised for other purposes besides 
the honey. It will be a hard matter to de- 
termine which is best for your locality, with- 
out trying a plant of each. Find out what 
kind of a market you have for your seed, and 
then proceed to raise it, as if you were going 
to depend on the seed alone to pay expenses. 
Should you secure a good crop of honey from 
it, you will then be so much ahead, and 
there is little chance of any great loss. 

The honey from these plants is said to be 
very light, equal to any in flavor, and to 
command the highest price in the market. 
The seed should be sown very early in the 
spring, either in shallow drills so far apart 
that the cultivator can be used between 
them, or broadcast. The former plan is, of 
course, the better one for nearly all honey- 
plants, but is more trouble. From 6 to 10 
lbs. per acre will be needed, if sown in drills, 
and from 15 to 20, if sown broadcast. If 
you wish to save the seed, it should be sown 
not later than July 1st. AVhen the greater 
part of the pods are ripe, the stalks are to be 
cut and carefully dried. A cloth should be 
spread in the bottom of the wagon, w r hen 
gathering, for the seed will shell out consid- 
erably, if it is in proper condition to thrash. 
I presume we have machines especially 
adapted for cleaning and thrashing the seed, 
but I have always seen a flail and fanning 
mill used. Of course, it should be thrashed 
on a tight floor, or on a floor made tight by 
a large piece of canvas. The seed of the 
common kinds of mustard brings four or five 
dollars per bushel. I do not know how 
many bushels are raised per acre. The Chi- 
nese variety has been highly extolled for 
bees, but we have found the common black 
mustard that grows almost of itself to thrive 
better, and be more visited by the bees. 
Who will give us the results of some practi- 
cal experiments ? 




HEXAGONAL CALIFORNIA APIARY, BELONGING TO R. WILKIN, SAN BUENAVENTURA. 



N. 



NUCLEUS. This word, applied to bee 
culture, signifies a small swarm of bees, per- 
haps from one-fourth to one-tenth of a full 
colony. The plural of the word is nuclei; it 
were well to bear this in mind, for there is 
much confusion in the use of the terms, even 
in printed circulars. If you remove a dozen 
bees from the hive, take them so far away 
that they are homeless, and then let them 
fly, they will after a time come pretty nearly 
back to tire place from which you released 
them; but unless they have a queen with 
them, they will soon wander away and be 
lost. If you give them a queen, they will 
come back to where they left her, and will 
probably remain if she does not stray away. 
She, like the rest, must fulfill her destiny, or 
she will wander away; we shall therefore 
have to provide her a comb wherein to lay 
eggs. The bees would build the comb them- 
selves, if there were enough of them, and 
they had plenty of food. A dozen would 
never build any comb; neither would they 
make any attempt to rear and hatch her 
eggs, if the comb were given them. Per- 
haps a hundred bees put in a suitably small 
box, with a fertile queen, might start a col- 
ony, and this is what we call a nucleus. 51 It 
is the center, about which a colony of bees 
may in time be formed. If they should be 
built up to a full colony, the building - up 
would be done by the queen's filling her 
combs with eggs, which, when cared for by the 
nursing bees (see Bees), would be converted 
into larvae, and in 21 days would be hatched 
into perfect bees. These bees would then 
help the original hundred, and the queen 
would fill a still larger area with eggs, which 
would be hatched in the same way, and so 
on. The difficulty in the way of building up 
from such small beginnings seems to be that 
the queen will lay all the eggs a hundred 
bees can care for, perhaps in an hour or two, 
and then she has to sit or loaf around for the 
whole 21 days, until she can have another 
"job." Before the 21 days are up, she will 
be very likely to get disgusted with such 



small proceedings, and swarm out, or at 
least induce the bees with her to do so. 
See Absconding Swarms. If we should 
increase the number of bees to 500 or 
1000, we would get along very much 
better, and there would b3 little danger of 
swarming out, unless the hive given them 
were too small. A very spry and ambitious 
queen might fill all the cells the bees had 
prepared for her, then set about filling them 
the second time, as they sometimes do, and 
then swarm out; but, with a quart of bees— 
about 3200, if I have figured rightly— things 
will generally go along pretty well. 

If we are to have this quart of bees work 
to the best advantage, something depends 
upon the sort of hive they are domiciled in. 
A single comb, long and narrow, so as to 
string the bees out in one thin cluster, is 
very bad economy. Two combs would do 
very much better, but three would be a great 
deal better still. It is like scattering the 
firebrands widely apart; one alone will soon 
go out ; two placed side by side will burn 
very well ; and three will make quite a fire. 
It is on this account, that I would have a 
nucleus of three, instead of one or two 
frames. The bees seem to seek naturally a 
space between two combs ; and the queen 
seldom goes to the outside comb of a hive, 
unless she is obliged to for want of room. 
Is not the Langstroth frame, then, a poor 
shape for building up nuclei? and would not 
the small Gallup be better? The L. frame is 
a bad shape for two or three frame nuclei, 
and, for that matter, I think the Gallup is 
also. 52 The one is too long, and the other too 
deep; in one case, we have the ends extend- 
ing beyond the cluster, unless we contract 
the hive so as to crowd the bees out to the 
ends, and, in the other case, the bottom of 
the frame extends below the cluster. 53 This 
matter of deep and shallow frames seems 
not to be very well understood, if I may be 
excused for saying so much. If you will ex- 
amine bees at the approach of frosty weath- 
er, you will see, from the way in which they 



NUCLEUS. 



178 



NUCLEUS. 



draw up and condense, how their combs 
need to be proportioned. To have them 
stand the rigors of severe winter weather, 
they should fill their hive as nearly as possi- 
ble, and there should be no cold unfilled 
spaces either at the ends, or underneath the 
cluster. If their hive is so- full that bees are 
standing in the doorway, even during severe 
cold weather, we need have little fear of 
their suffering. Now, with a shallow hive, 
they will come clear down to the bottom- 
board, and keep that warm as well as the 
ceiling overhead. With a frame as deep as 
the Gallup, I have not succeeded so well in 
making them do it. Nor can I succeed so 
well with any frame, whose depth is as great 
as the width. The warm combs are at the 
sides of the bees, and the open ends between 
the combs are at the ends of the cluster. 
The diagram below will help to make it 
plain. 

G A 




It is very plainly evident, that the sides of 
the clusters, A.I>. and C. I), are much better 
protected than the ends, G, II, and E,F; and 
also that the long frames protect the center 
of the brood-nest much better than the short 
ones.'' 4 Taking this fact into consideration, 
in connection with what has been said of 
the importance of a shallow frame, and we 
shall have just about the dimensions of hive 
and frame given us by Mr. Langstroth; and, 
if I am correct, all these things were taken 
into consideration when he settled down on 
his frame and hive, after years of careful ex- 
periment in regard to different sizes. 

Well, if the L. frame is the best economy 
for the average progeny of a queen, we must 
have a smaller frame in just about the same 
proportions, if we wish to work with nuclei 
to the best advantage. As we can not well 
have a frame for a pint of bees, and another 
for a quart, and so on, on account of the 
complication it would make in an apiary, it 
behooves us to discuss well what sizes we 
shall use, if any, less than our regular frame. 
A frame as deep as the usual one, and as 
wide as the width of our hive, makes a very 
pretty frame for queen-rearing. 

The Gallup frame would do nicely, and, 
in fact, is much used for this purpose, but it 



is too deep ; were it cut down to the depth of 
the L. frame, I should like it much better. 
A frame has been suggested, and I believe 
somewhat used, for a nucleus hive, of the 
depth of the L., and just wide enough to go 
crosswise, in the Simplicity hive. An ordi- 
nary hive, with a rabbet along the sides, as 
well as across the ends, will hold these 
frames or the usual L. frames, as may be de- 
sired. If it should be desired to use this 
small frame entirely in an apiary, the size is 
exactly right to hold 6 of the 1-lb. sections.* 
When used for queen-rearing, three, of these 
small frames will make a very comfortable 
nucleus. One of the prettiest queen-rearing 
apiaries I have ever seen was composed of 
about 50 three-frame hives of this descrip- 
tion. 

Although I have described this small 
frame, and spoken of its advantages, please 
do not understand that I would advise you 
to adopt it. If I were going to have two- 
sizes of frames in my apiary, I would adopt 
just these, without question — the large one 
for honey, and the small one for queen-rear- 
ing. But, can we afford to have these two 
sizes, even if they do both hang in the same 
hive? Before answering, I would state that 
I have worked for years witli two or more 
kinds of frames in the same apiary, and 
have multiplied, divided, and united again, 
until I think I have had experience in near- 
ly all the changes that come about, and each 
year I grow more determined that I will 
have but one size of frame in the apiary, and 
no odd ones any more under any circumstanc- 
es. This one size shall be the L. frame I 
have given you; and if I should sell all my 
bees to-day and start anew, I would use this 
without hesitation. If this is our determi- 
nation, it behooves us to see what can be 
done toward ameliorating the objections to 
the long and large L. frame. Strong nuclei 
will do it without question; and if one wish- 
es to make his queen business a sure thing, 
without the vexations of swarming out,, rob- 
bing, etc., there is nothing like strong nu- 
clei, to take care of themselves. For queen- 
rearing, I would have the ordinary Simplic- 
ity hive, one story, with a division-board, 






*A ch.iIT hive made to hM 1 ihesD small frames be- 
low, and the usual Langstroth frame above, solves 
the problem of a chaff hive having 1 the upper and 
lower frames running tho same way, the only ob- 
jection being that we have frames of two sizes in the 
same hive. Ry lifting out two or three of the up- 
per frames, we can at any time fret at the brood 
frames below, without taking aU the combs from 
the upper story, as we have to do in the regular 
chaff hive. I only offer this as a suggestion. 



NUCLEUS. 



179 



NUCLEUS. 



and then the increase can readily he accom- 
modated, and all that increase to a full 
swarm are all right, without any changing 
and shifting of hives. If desired, two nuclei 
can be put in one hive, by using a tight di- 
vision-board, and making the entrances at 
either end. This plan does very well, but 
there is more danger of the swarms mixing, 
than where separate stands are used for 
each hive. The rustic chaff hive, given 
below, seems nicely adapted to this 
purpose; and from the fact that it gives pro- 
tection in cold weather, it is much better 
than a single-walled hive like the Simplicity. 




CLAEKS RUSTIC CHAFF HIVE. 

The nucleus hive shown above, I first saw 
in use at the residence of Mr. Geo. Clark, 
Medina, O. The following description is 
from the Sept. Gleanings for 1878: 

When I first came into the yard, I was inclined to 
laugh at his home - mad -i chaff hives. Our artist 
went over and made a drawing of one, which is 
shown above. 

When our friend tumbkd the cover off from one, 
and took out the clean chaff cushion and laid it on 
the cover, revealing two fine 4 - frame nuclei, for 
rearing queens, I changed my mind about them. 
The inside is just like the inside of any L. hive, only 
that he had a partition-board that extended a little 
higher than the sides. Some pieces of carpet, of 
just the right size, covered the frames of each side. 
The entrance to one colony is shown in the cut; the 
other is exactly like it, on the opposite end. I re- 
marked that such hives would be exactly the thing 
for rearing queens in cool weather, and that they 
would winter there without any doubt. He replied 
that two stocks had wintered in each one of them, 
without any trouble so far. 

The beauty of this chaff hive is, that it costs almost 
nothing. Any old boards will do to make it; even 
if the cracks between the boards are so open that 
the rain beats in, it would soon dry out; the over- 
hanging roof, which is made of rough, unplaned 
boards, like the rest, would probably shield it from 
the greater part of the storms. Any old, black, 
rough boards will make the outside, but the inside 
should be made of ^-inch stuff, planed at least on 
the inside. The dimensions inside should be very 
accurate, to hold the L. frame. 

The bees will winter in a hive like this, al- 
most as well as if the two were in one clus- 
ter; for if the division - board is of thin 



wood, they will cluster up against it on both 
sides, on account of the mutual warmth felt 
through the board by each. In using hives 
with a division-board between two colonies, 
great care should be used in making the di- 
vision board tight. I do not know how many 
failures have resulted from having the board 
shrink or warp, and thus let the bees through. 
Although wire cloth has been made to do in 
a few cases, it will not do to depend on it. 
Sooner or later the bees will kill one of the 
queens, and behave themselves as one colo- 
ny. I have raised queens, one in each side 
of a hive, both nuclei using a common en- 
trance, with no division - board at all, but 
such cases are exceptional. 

The above arrangement does very well so 
far as queen-rearing is concerned but where 
nucleus colonies are to be sold and shipped, 
we must have a little 3-frame hive on pur- 
pose. These are to be as light as possible, 
consistent with strength, to save express 
charges, and, for the same reason, should be 
as simple as possible. 




THREE-FRAME NUCLEUS HIVE. 

A sheet of enameled cloth, hemmed at the 
sides and ends, is made to lie over the 
frames, as in the large hives, but the cover 
is made to shut over the hive. These hives 
answer perfectly for rearing queens during 
the warm months of July and Aug., and one 
of them will be found on a shelf attached to 
the trellis, in the engraving given under 
Queen-rearing. No bottom is used to the 
hive, the shelf that it rests on being bottom 
enough ; the front board is made I inch 
shorter than the sides and back end, to form 
the entrance. When the bees are to be ship- 
ped, the cover is placed under the hive, clos- 
ing the entrance, and a piece of wire cloth 
is tacked over the top, after having fastened 
the frames by pushing sticks of proper size 
between them, or by the use of spacing- 
boards. See Moving Bees. In these small 
hives, this gives ventilation enough. Eor 3 
frames, the hive should bell in. wide inside. 

There is still another reason for using a 
nucleus hive with full-sized frames, and it is 
that those who purchase valuable queens in 
a nucleus, to save the risk of introducing, 
usually wish to build them up at once to full 
colonies ; with an odd - sized frame, this 
would be very inconvenient. 



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12 



p. 



POISONOUS HONEY. Honey may 
be poisonous in two ways. It may be poi- 
sonous for human beings, and not for the 
bees, or it may be poisonous to both bees 
and humanity ; in the latter case, it could 
not well happen that we should suffer very 
much, for the bees would die before they 
could make any accumulation. It has been 
reported that tbe honey from certain blos- 
soms, such as the ailanthus, poisons the 
bees, even before they can get away from 
the tree ; but, so far as I can learn, this is a 
mistake. 

The wild honey of the Southern States, in 
many localities, is quite liable to produce 
sickness, and, in some instances, this sick- 
ness has been so sudden and violent as to 
give good grounds for thinking that the 
honey was obtained from poisonous flowers. 
The following is from Feb. Gleanings, 
for 1875: 

Wherever the mountain laurel grows, the bees 
are very fond of it, and laurel honey is not confined 
to the wild bees, for the tame ones will also resort 
to the flowers, and it is dangerous, for any one un- 
able to detect the taste, to eat the honey. It has a 
highly poisonous effect, being an extremely dis- 
tressing narcotic, varying in its effects in propor- 
tion to the quantity eaten. During the war, as a 
surgeon in the Confederate army, and campaigning 
a good deal in tlic Valley (as we call it). 1 had many 
opportunities of witnessing its effects, and, on one 
occasion, personal experience gave me the right to 
say that I know something about it, as well as your 
correspondent. He says he only tasted it, but. not 
being forewarned, or, rather, not being acquainted 
with the taste of the "laurel honey," I ate a small 
quantity of it, and was prevented by the disagreea- 
ble taste from eating more. My comrades, equally 
ignorant, and not quite so fastidious, indulged 
more freely, and consequertly suffered in propor- 
tion. I do not remember very distinctly the symp- 
toms; but as nearly as I can recall them, my sensa- 
tions were these : Pome time after eating, a 
queerish sensation of tingling all over, indistinct 
vision, caused by dilation of the pupils, with an 
empty, dizzy feeling about the head, and a horrible 
nausea that would not relieve itself by vomiting. 
In my case this lasted perhaps an hour; but my com- 
panions were worse off, and complained of the 
ssmptoms two or three hours. They, however, had 
not eaten enough to suffer as much as I have seen 
others. The first cases that 1 saw were entirely 
overpowered by it, and their appearance was exact- 
ly as if they were dead drunk, and I should certainly 



have pronounced them so, had not their messmates 
assured me to the contrary, and had I not discovered 
that they were rational and sensible of their condi- 
tion, as shown by their imperfect efforts to articu- 
late. To speak technically, the innervation of all 
the voluntary muscles was completely destroyed. 
The use of the usual remedies, or antidotes for 
narcotics, partially restored them in a few hours, 
but the effects did not entirely wear off for two or 
three days, and I was assured that fatal conse- 
quences have been known to follow a too free in- 
dulgence in 1 he sweet but treacherous product of 
the " models of industry." 

Where there is no mountain laurel to poison their 
honey, the wild bees of Virginia can make as good 
honey as any others. Of course, the quality of the 
honey varies with the character of the flowers from 
which it is made, and I have seen as good honey 
from a bee-tree on the edge of a field of clover as 
perhaps the bees of Hymettus ever made. 

Halifax C. II., Va. J. Grammer, M. D. 

POLLEN. Doubtless, you have all 
heard bees humming about hollyhock blos- 
soms, but perhaps most of you have passed 
on, thinking that it was nothing strange, 
for bees are always humming about flow- 
ers. Suppose we stop just a minute, and 
look into the matter a little. The bee, al- 
though on the wing, is almost motionless as 
he hovers about the dust in the center of 
the flowers, and, by careful watching, we 
may see that his tongue is extended to a con- 
siderable length. This tongue looks much 
like a delicate pencil-brush as he sweeps it 
about among the grains of pollen; and as the 
pollen adheres to it and is from time to time 
put away somehow, we are led to infer that 
there must be something adhesive on it. I 
believe the bee, when he starts out to gather 
pollen, does carry some honey if he finds some 
in the blossom. Well, we will suppose he 
has moistened his long, flexible, brush-like 
tongue with honey, has spread it out and 
brushed it among the pollen-grains and then 
—I rather think I shall have to give you 
some pictures before I can well explain to 
you what happens next. See next page. 

Fig. 1 is a collection of pollen-grains high- 
ly magnified, and A is exactly the kind the 
bee finds in the hollyhock. Fig. 2 is the 
tongue of the bee, and Fig. 3 is one of his 
fore feet, just to show you what a funny ma- 
chine he is provided with, for getting the pol- 



POLLEN. 



183 



POLLEN. 



len off his tongue. There is a little blade, as 
it were, at B, that opens and shuts, and the 
bee, when his tongue is well loaded, just 
claps it into the grooved or fluted cavity, C, 
then shuts down B, and gives his tongue a 
" wipe," so quickly that he leaves sleight-of- 
hand performers all far in the shade. I be- 
lieve he generally wipes his tongue with 
both fore feet at once; and when he does 
this, his appearance, viewed through a glass, 
is comical in the extreme. Suppose you 
were to take a feather duster, dip it in honey, 
and then roll it in currants. It would be a 
big job to pick these currants off, one at a 
time; but if you should put the handle of the 
duster in your mouth, you might, with the 
thumb and forefinger of each hand, strip 
them all off clean at one " lick," and then 
your duster would be ready for another 
" dip." This is just the way the bee does it; 
but he has rather the advantage, for Lis 
thumb and finger are fluted, or grooved, in 
the. way I have explained, that he may be 
able to sweep off his tongue " slick and 
clean," without hindrance. Now it is anoth- 
er "knack "he has, of getting it into his 
pollen-baskets, after he gets it cff his tongue. 




You will see that, should he not moisten 
the pollen into a kind of paste or dough, he 
would never be able to make it stick in such 
a place. Well, it does sometimes tumble 
off, especially if he takes very heavy loads, 
or has an inconvenient entrance into his 
hive. I have seen quite a large heap of pol- 
len, just in front of a hive, when the en- 
trance was so badly arranged as to cause the 
bee to scrape it off when going in. All 
kinds of traps and rigging, to prevent the 
drones and queens from going out and in 
with the workers, have been objectionable 
on this very account. 

Well, between the pollen-gathering legs 
and the pollen-basket legs are another pair. 
These play a very important part in getting 
the pollen into the pollen-baskets. With the 
tongue, foreleg, and middle leg, the bee 
pads up the pollen and honey until there is 
quite a wad of it, and then, with a very pret- 
ty sleight-of-hand, he carries this little cake, 
scarcely so large as the head of a small pin, 
between the middle and fore leg, back to 
the pollen basket. When in place, it is firm- 
ly pressed into the basket, and then neatly 
patted down, with the middle leg, much ;;s 

Fitr. :{ 1'ijf. 2 





HOW THE UEE GETS THE POLLEX FROM THE FLOWEKS. 




to bear in mind that a bee has (» 
legs; the first two legs have the 
mechanical contrivance just de- 
scribed ; the last two, the pol- 
len - baskets. They are called 
baskets, but I never could see 
much resemblance to a basket, 
as they consist merely of a flat 
place, or slight cavity, A, on the 
side of the leg, and a few short, 
stiff hairs to hold the pollen 
from tumbling off. The engrav- 
ing will give you a good idea 

. of it. Observe the pollen is car- 
ried in the upper joint of the leg. 



a dextrous butter-woman gives her neat rolls 
the finishing taps. This motion seems to be 
a sort of automatic movement; for the bee 
is the while intently engaged, with tongue 
and forefeet, in gathering more pollen from 
the flowers. The operation may be wit- 
nessed easily, by taking on your finger a bee 
that is gathering propolis from some old 
quilt or hive. As he picks and pulls off bits 
of wax with his mandibles, he will convey 
them back to the pollen-basket much more 
leisurely while he stands still, and you can 
easily follow the whole proceeding. Even 
on a cool day, when his motions, are sluggish, 
you will be astonished at the wonderful 



POLLEN. 



184 



POLLEN. 



celerity and swiftness with which these fun- 
ny little legs move. When he has a load 
that he deems sufficient, he spreads his wings 
and soars aloft; but, if the field is a new 
one, he will circle about and take his points, 
returning again and again, that he may not 
mistake where to come back, his plump lit- 
tle load being plainly visible while he is on 
the wing. 

When he gets into the hive, if a young 
bee, he has to go through with a series of re- 
joicings—see Bees ; but if a regular laborer, 
he proceeds at once, or at least as soon as he 
has had a breathing-spell (for carrying large 
loads of pollen is like carrying a hod of brick 
to the top of a three-story brick building), to 
deposit the pollen in the cells. This is done 
very quickly, by crossing his pollen -legs 
while they are thrust to the bottom of the 
cell, and then kicking the loads off, very like 
the way in which our blue-eyed baby kicks 
off her shoes, when she takes a notion to go 
barefooted. After the load is off, he starts 
out again, without paying any further at- 
tention to the matter. The question keeps 
coming up to me, Does the bee that brings 
the pollen never stop to pack it in the cells 
or eliminate it for the young larvae? I am 
convinced that he usually does not; but 
where the hive is deprived of young bees, I 
think almost any bee can do this work. If 
there are plenty of young bees in the hive, 
he probably concludes he has nothing fur- 
ther to do with it. 

After the pollen is dropped in the cells, it 
will fall out if the comb is turned over; and 
when the maples are first out in the spring, 
I have heard and seen the pollen rattle out 
like shot, in turning the combs horizontally 
to look at the queens. Very soon after the 
pollen is thus deposited, the nursing - bees 
come and mash it down into a hard cake ; I 
have not been able to discover how they do 
this, unless it is done with the head. The 
British Bee Journal for May, 1876, graphical- 
ly describes the whole operation as follows : 

The pollen-laden bee, upon entering the hive, 
makes directly for the brood-nest, and where its 
load is required, it quickly disencumbers itself. 
Sometimes the nurse-bees are in want of the all- 
necessary pollen, and nibble it from the legs of the 
worker without ceremony ; but more often the bee 
goes to a cell devoted to pollen-storing, and hangs 
by its first pair of legs to another cell immediately 
above, and by the aid of its middle pair of legs it un- 
loads its hindmost, and (as it were) kicks the balls 
of pollen Into the proper receptacle. Here they are 
mixed with a little honey, and kneaded into a stiff 
paste, which is then rammed hard against the bot- 

om of the cell, for future use, the bee using its 
head as a battering - ram ; these operations are re- 



peated until the cell is almost filled with the knead 
ed dough, when a little clear honey is placed on the 
top, and it is sealed over and preserved as bee- 
bread. If a cell full of pollen be cut in two, longi- 
tudinally, its contents will, as a rule, be found of 
many colore, stratified, the strata of varied thick- 
ness standing on edge, as if the bees, instead of stor- 
ing bread, had stored pancakes. 

The principal supply of pollen in our locali- 
ty is from maple in the spring, and from corn 
in the latter part of summer and fall. Al- 
most all flowers that yield honey yield pol- 
len also, to a greater or less extent, and 
when the bee comes in laden with the one, 
he almost always has some of the other. 55 The 
red clover yields a peculiar dark-green pol- 
len that pretty surely indicates when the 
bees are gathering honey from it. They oft- 
en get a considerable load of honey, Avith 
but a very small one of pollen ; but if you 
did not notice very carefully, you would quite 
likely declare that they had gathered no hon- 
ey at all. 

The pollen from corn is generally gather- 
ed early in the morning; when it is first 
coming into bloom, I have seen them start 
but in the fore part of the day, much as they 
do for a buckwheat-field. 

For further information in regard to the 
offices of pollen in the hive, see Bees. 



necessity 



OF POLLEN FOR BltOOD- 
REAlilNG. 



We are interested about pollen, because 
bees can not rear brood without either it, 
or some substitute for it. Bees kept in 
confinement, and fed on pure sugar and 
pure water, will thrive and void little 
or no excrement; but as soon as pollen, 
or food containing the farinaceous ele- 
ment, is given them, their bodies will 
become distended; and instead of a trans- 
parent fluid, they will void a fluid of a 
darkish tint, which will soil their hives, and 
emit quite an unpleasant smell. I once kept 
about 300 bees in a cage with a queen, and 
gave them only pure sugar and water. They 
built comb, and seemed quite contented, the 
cage emitting no smell whatever. In order to 
start brood-rearing, I gave them some sugar 
candy containing flour, and they got uneasy 
very soon, and tried in vain to get out. At 
this time the cage gave off quite an un- 
pleasant smell, and so they were allowed to 
fly ; had the pollen element not been given 
them, I presume they would have stood the 
confinement for a month or more. I once 
wintered a fair colony of bees, on stores of 
pure sugar syrup, and when they flew in the 
spring there was no perceptible spot on the 
white snow about their hives. They had no 



POLLED. 



185 



POLLEN. 



pollen, and, of course, no brood - rearing 
could go on without it. A few years ago, 
I made some experiments with bees confined 
in a large room under glass. As it was late 
in the fall, after brood-rearing had ceased, I 
did not know whether I should succeed in 
starting them again. After feeding them 
for about a week, eggs were found in the 
cells, but none of them hatched into larvae. 
A heap of rye meal was placed in the center 
of the room near the feed, and anxiously I 
waited to see them take notice of it. After 
several days, a bee was seen hovering curi- 
ously about it. In breathless suspense I 
watched him, until he finally began to dip 
his tongue into the heap, and then to pad it 
on his legs. He carried home a small load. 
I had the hive open, and the frame out, as 
soon as he was among his comrades, and 
watched the behavior of- the rest while he 
shook himself among them, until he depos- 
ited his treasure in a cell, and hurried away 
for another load. Very shortly, some of the 
rest followed him, and buzzed about the 
room, until they found where he was loading 
up, and soon they were at work on the meal, 
as merrily as in the spring. Of course, the 
eggs were very soon, now, transformed into 
unsealed larvae, then into capped brood, and, 
in due time, I had young bees hatched out 
in the month of December. 

By warming the room with a stove for sev- 
eral days in succession, I found I could start 
brood-rearing and pollen-gathering even in 
the month of January. It may be well to 
state here, that although I succeeded in 
rearing bees in midwinter, as strong and 
healthy, apparently, as those raised in sum- 
mer time, the experiment was hardly a suc- 
cess after all; for about as many bees died 
from what I suppose was the effect of con- 
finement, as were hatched out. It was a de- 
cided success, in determining many un- 
known points in regard to bees, aside from 
the office of pollen, and I presume, if it ever 
should be necessary, we could overcome the 
difficulties of flying bees under glass. 

ARTIFICIAL SUBSTITUTES FOR FOLUEN. 

It has been known for many years, that in 
the spring time, bees will make use of the 
flour or meal of many kinds of grain, and 
many bee-keepers feed bushels of it every 
season. The favorite grain seems to be rye; 
and, as the bees are apt to fall into it and 
sometimes get so covered as to perish, I have 
been in the habit of having the rye ground 
up with an equal quantity of oats. A great 
many plans have been devised for feeding it 
without waste; but, after all our experi- 



ments, a heap of meal on the ground seems 
about as satisfactory as any way. Of course , 
it should be protected from rain; and as 
there is usually much high wind in the 
spring, which is, to say the least, very an- 
noying to the bees, it is well to have it in a 
spot sheltered as much as possible, always 
aiming to give them as much sunshine as 
may be. By way of experiment, I have con- 
centrated the rays of the sun on the meal 
heap, by mirrors, that the bees might work 
on days otherwise too cold ; I have also 
made glass-covered structures for the pur- 
pose ; and have even kept their meal hot by 
means of a lamp nursery ; all these plans 
have succeeded, but I am inclined to doubt 
whether stocks pushed along, in brood rear- 
ing, by such means, were really in advance 
of some that were left to take their chances. 
It is amusing to see the little fellows start 
from their hives on days so cold that they 
Avould not otherwise stir out, hie to the 
warm meal and load up, and then go home 
so quickly that they do not have time to get 
chilled. 

Is there any danger of feeding them too 
much meal? In our own apiary, I have nev- 
er known them to take so much that it was 
not used at once for brood - rearing ; but I 
purchased of a neighbor some hives which 
contained flour in the cells, dried down so 
hard as to make it necessary for the bees to 
cut it out, comb and all, as the only means 
of getting rid of it. I presume this came 
about by the sudden appearance of natural 
pollen, when they had laid in a pretty good 
supply of the flour ; it is well known, that 
as soon as the natural pollen can be obtained, 
they at once abandon all artificial substitutes. 
I think there is but little danger of giving 
them too much rye and oat meal, but I 
would not risk giving them great quantities 
of fine wheat flour. 

Not a few of our readers have been per- 
plexed and astonished, doubtless, by seeing 
the bees, in early spring, greedily appro- 
priating sawdust, just as they do rye meal. I 
have seen them at the sawmills, so thick on 
a large heap of fresh sawdust as to attract a 
large crowd of people; and when I caught 
them, and tasted of the pollen from their 
legs, I was somewhat amazed to find it sweet 
and very much like the pollen from the flow- 
ers. I presume they had plenty of honey 
but no pollen, and that these fine particles 
of wood contained enough of the nitrogen- 
ous element to answer very well, mixed with 
honey, as they have it, when packed in their 
pollen-baskets. The pollen from green tim- 



POLLEN. 



ISO 



POLLEN. 



ber contains an essential oil, besides some 
gummy matter, that gives an odor doubtless 
reminding the bees of the aroma of the open- 
ing buds. Not only do they thus collect the 
(to us) tasteless sawdust, but they have been 
found at different times on a great variety 
of substances. A friend in Michigan, at one 
time found them loading up with the fine 
black earth of the swamps, and they have 
been known to use even coal-dust; but the 
strangest thing of all was told me by the 
owner of a cheese-factory, near by. lie said 
the bees were one day observed hovering 
over the shelves in the cheese-room, and, as 
their numbers increased, they were found to 
be packing on their legs the fine dust that 
had accumulated from handling so much 
cheese. Microscopic investigation showed 
this dust to be embryo cheese-mites, so that 
the bees had really been using animal food 
as pollen, and living animals at that. If one 
might be allowed to theorize in the matter, 
it would seem this should be a rare sub- 
stance to crowd brood-rearing to its utter- 
most limit. As cheese can now be bought 
here for 6 or Sc. by the quantity, it might 
not be so very expensive for bee-food after 
all. 

Bees can be taught to use a great variety 
of articles of food in this way, when they are 
in need of pollen, and therefore the story of 
giving a hive of bees a roasted chicken, to 
promote their comfort and welfare, may be 
not entirely a myth. Ground malt, such as 
is used in making beer, has been very highly 
recommended in place of rye meal; but as I 
have never succeeded in getting any of it, I 
can not speak from practical experience. 

THE AGENCY OF THE BEES IN FERTILIZING 
PLANTS, BY MINGLING THE POLLEN. 

This is too wide a subject to be discussed 
at full length here, but I will give you a few 
examples, to start you on the track. A per- 
fect blossom contains both stamens and pis- 
tils, the male and female organs of repro- 
duction ; but sometimes we find flowers hav- 
ing stamens only, and others having pistils 
only ; and these two blossoms may be borne 
by the same plant or by different plants. 

If I am correct, the plant is fertilized by 
the pollen from the stamens falling on the 
stigma at the summit of the pistil. Unless 
this is done, the plant ripens no seed. Na- 
ture has adopted a multitude of devices for 
carrying this pollen from one blossom to the 
other; but perhaps the most general, and the 
one with which we have to do principally, is 
the agency of the bees. Common corn is an 
illustration of a class of plants that bear 



both kinds of blossoms on the same stalk. 
The blossom that bears the seed is low down, 
and is what we commonly term the silk of 
the ear. The one that bears the pollen is at 
the very summit of the stalk, and the pollen, 
when ripe, is shaken off and falls on the silk 
below ; or, what is still better, it is wafted 
by the wind to the silk of the neighboring 
stalks, thus preventing in-and-in breeding, 
in a manner strikingly analagous to the way 
in which the drones fly out in the air, that 
the chances may be greatly in favor of their 
meeting queens other than those from their 
own hives. You may object, that the silk 
from the ear of corn is not properly a flower, 
so I will give you a more striking instance. 
The common ragweed, Ambrosia artemisoz- 
folia, also sometimes called bitterweed, or 
hogweed, bears two distinct and entirely 
unlike flowers. 




RAGWEED AND CORN, SHOWING THE TWO 
KINDS OF BLOSSOMS ON ONE STALK. 

On the ends of the tall racemes, as at B, 
the pollen-bearing blossoms are seen very 
conspicuously; and many of you who are fa- 
miliar with the weed, perhaps never imag- 
ined that it had any other blossom at all : if 
so, will you please go outdoors and take a 
look at them again? Eight close to the main 
stem, where the branches all start out, you 
will find a very pretty little flower, only that 
it possesses no color except green, and it is 
here where ail the seeds are borne, as you 
will see on some of the branches where they 
are matured. Now, if you will get up early 
in the morning, you will find that these 
plants, when shaken, give off a little cloud 
of fine green dust, and this is the pollen of 
the plant. Before I knew what it was, I used 
to find it annoying on account of the way 
in which it soiled light clothing. As this 
plant is in no way dependent on the bees for 
the fertilization of jts blossoms, they con- 



POLLEN. 



187 



POLLEN". 



tain no honey, or at least I have never been 
able to detect any ; although I have, during 
two seasons, seen the bees quite busily en- 
gaged gathering the pollen. It is said that 
corn sometimes bears honey as well as pol- 
len, although I have never been able to get 
proof of it. These two plants, as I have be- 
fore remarked, seem to insure crossing the 
seed with other plants of the same variety, 
by bearing the pollen-bearing flowers aloft, 
on slender spines; also by furnishing a 
great preponderance in numbers of these 
blossoms, for precisely the same reason that 
a thousand or more drones are reared to one 
queen. A stalk that succeeds in pushing 
itself above the others, and in bearing a pro- 
fusion of pollen-flowers, will probably be the 
father, so to speak, of a multitude of the ris- 
ing generation, and this process, repeated 
for generations, would develop just the ten- 
dency of corn and ragweed, to shoot up tall 
spires, clothed with an exuberance of the 
pollen-bearing blossoms. As the plants that 
give the greatest distance on the stalk be- 
tween the lower, or seed-blossoms, and the 
upper ones, are most likely to shed the pol- 
len on neighboring plants, this, too, fosters 
the tendency mentioned. 

But, what shall the great multitude of 
plants do, that have no tall spines with 
which to shake their pollen to the breezes? 
Here is where the bees come in, and fulfil 
their allotted task, in the work of animal 
and vegetable life. They would, it is true, 
visit many plants for the pollen alone, but 
with by far the greater part of them, the 
pollen is only a secondary consideration, or 
not sought for at all. In vieing with each 
other, or, in the strife to perpetuate their 
species, what shall the plant do to offer the 
greatest attraction to the bees to visit them, 
and carry the precious pollen to the neigh- 
boring blossoms, for the purpose we have 
mentioned? Suppose we wish to gather a 
group of school-children about us, what will 
be the surest and most effectual method of do- 
ing it? Coax them with candy, maple sugar, 
and the like, of course; and that is just what 
the plant does; or it does still more, for it 
ransacks its storehouse, and, I dare say, 
sends its roots abroad through the soil, with 
untiring efforts, to steal a more delicious 
and enticing nectar, more wonderfully ex- 
quisite than even the purest and most trans- 
parent maple-sugar syrup ever distilled, or 
"boiled bown," by the skill of man, for the 
sole purpose of coaxing the bees to come and 
dust themselves in their precious pollen, or 
to bring from some other blossom the pol- 



len they have previously been dusted with. 
Now, this honey is precious, and it must tax 
the plant to its utmost to produce it. Nature, 
therefore, who is a most careful economist, 
not only deals it out in small doses, but she 
places it in the most cunning nooks and cor- 
ners, that the bee may be obliged to twist 
himself into all possible shapes, around and 
among the stamens, until the pollen is most 
' surely dusted all over him. Observe, that 
the flower secretes no honey until the pol- 
len is ripe, and ready to do its work ; that 
the honey slowly exudes into the nectaries, 
that the bees may be kept coming and lick- 
ing it out every hour in the day; and that 
the flow of honey ceases just as soon as the 
pollen is ripened and gone. A lady has sug- 
gested a beautiful experiment, to determine 
the amount of honey yielded by the spider 
flower, Cleome. She tied lace over the stalk, 
to keep away the bees that were constantly 
visiting it. The honey collected in quite a 
large drop. I presume we could measure 
the amount with many other plants in a 
similar way. The little cups on the flower 
of the Eigwort, I have seen full to the brim 
with honey, when found standing alone out 
in the woods. Truly : 

"Full many a flower is born to blush unseen, 
And waste its sweetness on the desert air." 

Did you ever remark the spot of fur or 
down on the back of the bee, just between 
the wings? Well, bee -hunters sometimes 
put a small drop of white paint on this spot, 
that they may know a bee when he comes 
back. Several years ago bees were going 
into many of the hives, with a spot of white 
on this fur that looked, at first sight, al- 
most like white paint. Eor several seasons 
in succession I hunted in vain to see where 
they got this white spot. At one 1 time it 
seemed to come from working on thistles ; 
but I was obliged to give this up, for I found 
it most on the bees one season when they 
did not notice thistles at all. One swarm of 
beautiful Italians had filled their hive nice- 
ly in Sept., and almost every bee had a 
white back. I lined them from the hive, 
and followed them. They went toward a 
large piece of wild woodland, and I scanned 
the tops of the trees in vain ; finally, over 
between the hills, beside a brook, I found 
acres of the wild touch-me-not {Impatiaxs), 
the same plant that Ave have often played 
with in childhood, because the queer little 
seed-pods will snap all to pieces when ripe, 
if they are touched ever so carefully. The 
honey is secreted in the spur to the flow- 
er, shown next page at B. 



POLLEN. 



188 



POLLEN. 




FLOAVEK OF THE WILD TOUCH-ME-NOT. 

SHOWING THE WAY THE BEE GETS 

THE POLLEN ON HIS BACK. 

The bee can reach this only by diving 
down into it almost out of sight; and when 
the coveted treasure is obtained he backs 
out with a ludicrous kicking and sprawling 
of his legs, and in so doing the down on his 
back is ruffled up the wrong way. Now, 
this would be pretty certain to get the pol- 
len dusted all over him; but nature, to make 
sure, has planted a little tuft that bears the 
pollen just on the upper side of the entrance 
to the flower, at A, and, in his struggles to 
get out, the white pollen is brushed all over 
his back most effectually, to be carried to 
the next flower, and so on. 

A year or two after this, I took a friend of 
mine to the spot to show him my wonderful 
discovery; but, lo and behold! the sharp- 
witted Italians had taken a short cut to the 
honey by biting through the spur, and in- 
serting their tongues, without the laborious 
operation of crowding down into the flower. 
I really can not say how many years it will 
take the plant to discover that it is secret- 
ing the honey in that little spur in vain, or 
whether it will, for self -preservation, make 
the spur so thick and hard that the bees can 
not bite through it, or put the honey some- 
where else, or do some other way. It seems 
very certain, that it must soon become ex- 
tinct, unless something is done ; for not a 
seed can mature so long as the bees bite 
through, instead of pushing past the pollen 
as they have formerly done. 

But will there really be no seed, unless the 
bees visit the blossoms V I will give you 
some well - known facts, and leave you to 
judge. 

Common red clover was, a few years ago, 
introduced to Australia, and it made a most 
excellent growth in that warm rich soil, 
but not a bit of seed could they raise. Aft- 
er trying in vain, it was suggested that 
bumble-bees were required to fertilize the 
blossoms. Some nests were accordingly 
shipped from the New-England States, and 
the result was perfectly satisfactory ; for 
seed was raised then, without trouble. I 



presume a few colonies of Italian bees would 
have answered equally well; but as bad luck 
has attended their efforts at importing, I do 
not know that the experiment of substi- 
tuting Italians for the bumble-bees has yet 
been tried. Darwin noticed, long ago, that 
bumble-bees were necessary for a good crop 
of clover seed, and suggested the following 
reason why better clover seed could be 
raised in the vicinity of towns than else- 
where. The greatest enemy of the bumble- 
bee is the field-mouse, that preys upon their 
nests; therefore, if the mice aie kept at 
bay, the bumble-bees will flourish. In the 
vicinity of towns more cats are kept than 
in the country, for every family, generally, 
keeps a cat, and some fearless individual 
has gone so far as to suggest that a town 
which contains an unusual number of maid- 
en ladies, who are said to favor cats especial- 
ly, will prove the most profitable neighbor- 
hood for raising clover seed. 

A few years ago, the people in some part 
of Mass. got an idea that the bees, which 
were kept there in large numbers, were in 
some way prejudicial to the fruit ; after 
some controversy, the bees w r ere banished 
from the town. In a year or two they found 
the fruit not only no better, but decidedly 
the reverse ; for the trees blossomed pro- 
fusely but bore no crops. By a unanimous 
request, our friend was persuaded to return 
with his bees, and since then the trees have 
not only blossomed, but have borne fruit in 
profusion. It is well known to those who 
raise the earliest cherries, that unless the sun 
comes out, when they are in bloom, long 
enough to allow the bees to visit the blos- 
soms, no fruit will be produced. As the 
very \ earliest varieties blossom before the 
weather has really got settled and warm, 
this is one great drawback to their culture. 

The Catawba is a very desirable variety of 
grape, as is also the Delaware ; but the for- 
mer is very late, and the latter very small. 
Dr. Grant originated the Iona by fertilizing 
the blossoms of the one with the pollen of 
the' other ; but in his first attempts he fail- 
ed repeatedly, because the bees were sure to 
upset all his experiments by their intermed- 
dling. 56 When he thought of the idea of 
covering the flowers from which he wished 
to produce the hybrid seed with lace, or 
something of a similar nature, to keep the 
bees away, he succeeded at once, and we 
now have the Iona, as the result, a grape 
that is just about half way between the Del- 
aware and Catawba, having very distinctly 
the flavor of each, 



POLLED. 



POLLED. 



Throughout the animal and vegetable 
kingdoms there seems to be a constant strug- 
gle for the perpetuation of their species, 
which is secured only by ripening perfect 
seeds. Notice how the weeds in our garden 
will struggle and fight, as it were, to get a 
foot-hold until they can get a crop of seeds 
ripened, and then remark the numerous 
ways they adopt to scatter this seed as 
widely as possible. If the plants were 
animated beings, we might almost call it 
tricks and sharp practice ; some of the seeds 
have wings, and fly like grasshoppers ; oth- 
ers have hooks, and catch on our clothing, 
and on the fur of different animals, in the 
hope of being carried to some spot where 
they may have a more favorable place to 
germinate. Eruits and berries, instead of 
clothing themselves in the sober green of 
the foliage surrounding them, when the 
seeds are fully ripened affect scarlet red and 
other bright colors, and, sometimes, fancy 
stripes, just to induce the birds to take them 
in preference to the fruit of other trees. 
Why do they want their fruits to be eaten 
by the birds, if it is their purpose to se- 
cure a place for their seed V Well, if you 
examine, you will find that the seed is en- 
cased in a horny shell that is proof against 
the digestive organs of the bird, and these 
seeds and stones are, therefore, voided fre- 
quently, if not invariably, while on the wing, 
in just the condition to take root in the 
soil wherever they may be cast. Bear this 
in mind while we go back a little to the bees 
and flowers. 

I have suggested that the honey is placed 
in the flowers to attract the bees ; after a 
bee has found honey in one flower, he will 
be very likely to examine others of a similar 
kind or appearance. If the flowers were all 
green, like the leaves of the plant, the insects 
would find much more trouble in hunting 
them up than they now do, because the 
contrasting color, such as the white or red 
of the clovers, makes them conspicuous. 
If you look back to what I said about corn 
and ragweed, you will see that the flowers 
of both are a plain green, for they have no 
need of bees to insure their fertilization. 

It is easily proven, that bees have a sort of 
telescopic vision that enables them to per- 
ceive objects at long distances ; when a bee 
starts out in the morning, he circles up 
aloft, then takes a view, and starts out for 
business. If one field of clover should be 
more conspicuous than the rest, he would 
probably give it the preference— at least, so 
far as to make an examination. If he has 



been at work on a profitable field the day 
before, he will, doubtless, strike for it again 
without any preamble. That bees look for 
honey, and hunt it out, I have proven to my 
full satisfaction ; and I am well convinced 
that what is often called instinct, and al- 
lowed to drop there, is only profiting by ex- 
perience, and an excellent memory of past 
events, much in the same way human beings 
do. We say that bees instinctively go to the 
flowers for honey ; I have watched them in 
the spring when the blossoms first open, 
and many of them, very likely the young 
bees, that have never before seen a blossom, 
will examine the leaves, branches, and even 
rough wood, of the trunk of the tree, intent- 
ly smelling and sniffing at every part, until 
he finds just where the coveted treasure is 
located. After he has dived deep into one 
blossom, and tasted the nectar, he knows 
pretty well where to look next. 

One afternoon the door of the honey-house 
was left open, and the bees were/doing a 
" land-office" business, before the mischief 
was stopped. After closing the door until 
they had clustered on the windows in the , 
room, it was opened, and the process re- 
peated until all were out ; but, all the rest of 
the afternoon they were hovering about the 
door. Toward night they gradually disap- 
peared; and when I went down, about sun- 
down, to try a new feeder, not a bee was near 
the door. I put the feeder in front of a hive 
where the bees were clustered out; and as 
soon as a few bees had got a taste, and filled 
themselves, they of course went into the 
hive to unload. I expected a lot to come 
out, as soon as these entered with their pre- 
cious loads, but was much astonished to see 
a regular stampede come tumbling out, as if 
they were going to swarm, and still more 
when they rushed right past the feeder and 
took wing for— where do you suppose ? the 
honey-house door, of course. How should 
they reason otherwise, than that it had again 
been left open, and that was where these in- 
comers had found their rich loads'? On find- 
ing it closed, back to the hive they came, to 
repeat the manoeuvre over and over again. 57 

HOW TO START BEES AT WORK ON RYE 
3IEAL. 

A beginner hears the feeding of oatmeal 
highly recommended as a substitute for pol- 
len. He places some near the entrances of 
the hives, but not a bee touches it. He is 
told again to wait until early spring, before 
the bees have access to natural pollen, and 
then they will take it. He does so, but, as 
before, not a bee notices it. He is uext told 



POLLEN. 



190 



POLLEN. 



to put a heap of it in the sun, a few rods dis- 
tant from the hives. This time he may suc- 
ceed; but it would not be strange if he 
should once more report that his bees would 
have nothing to do with it. Finally he is 
directed to take a piece of honey, and get 
some bees to feeding on it, then to set it on 
the heap of meal. The bees soon gather 
over it in great numbers; those who go 
home loaded start out many more searching 
all about the vicinity, to see where the trea- 
sure comes from. The hum of the busy ones 
on the honey soon attracts them, and, in 
snuffing about the pile of meal, some bee dis- 
covers that it can be used as a substitute for 
pollen ; the others soon follow suit, and, in 
a little time, both the bees and their owner 
are happy, and the pile of meal quickly dis- 
appears. After this he never has any more 
trouble in getting the bees to work on meal, 
for he knows how. The bees and their own- 
er have both learned a valuable lesson about 
pollen. Is there any very great difference 
in the way they have been taught'? Did 
they not both learn by practical experiment? 
The touch-me-not has learned, by ages of 
experiment, to produce a bright orange flow- 
er, to secrete honey in the spur, to place the 
pollen-bearing stamens at the point where 
the bee must rub against them in getting 
the honey, to construct those wonderful seed- 
pods, which explode and scatter the seed far 
and wide, just that it may reproduce and 
multiply its species. I should judge it had 
succeeded pretty well in a waste piece of 
woodland near my home, for there are now 
acres of it as high as one's head, and it is 
quite a valuable acquisition to our apiary. 58 
As near as I can make out, the plant has 
much increased since the advent of the Ital- 
ians, as might be expected ; and instead of 
having a dearth of pasturage for several 
months in the fall of the year, we not only 
have honey enough so that the bees trouble 
the houses and groceries very little, but they 
amass sufficient stores to carry them through 
the winter, with little if any feeding. This 
is true of dandelions as well; and the large, 
brilliant, showy blossoms that now line our 
roadsides and waste-places, instead of un- 
sightly weeds, should remind one of how 
much an apiary of bees contributes to fulfill 
the words of sacred prophecy: 

The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad 
for them ; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom 
as the rose.— Isaiah 35 : 1. 

Now, I can not positively affirm that the 
flowers were given their gaudy colors by the 
bees' selecting the brightest and most con- 



spicuous, thereby inducing suchjblossoms to 
bear seed in preference to those less gaudily 
attired, neither do I know that cherries be- 
came red because the birds selected those 
that showed a disposition to that color, 
year after year, for many centuries; nor 
can I prove that the bright plumage of male 
birds came about in the course of time, sim- 
ply because the female encouraged the at- 
tentions of and showed a preference for 
those most handsome. I can only suggest 
that the actions of birds, bees, flowers, and 
fruits, seem to point that way. You all 
know how quickly we can get fancy-colored 
flowers, yellow queen-bees, or birds of al- 
most any shade or color, by careful selection 
for several generations. Have not the bees 
so colored the flowers, and birds the berries, 
etc., although they did it all unconsciously'? 
My friend, before you again complain be- 
cause you have found a cell or two of bee- 
bread in your comb honey, would you not 
better ponder on the wonderful agency which 
those simple grains of pollen exert on the 
plant life that is yet to come, years, per- 
haps, after we have faded away and gone? 

POLLEN IN SECTION BOXES AND COMB 
HONEY. 

I do not mean to convey the idea that we 
should be satisfied with pollen in our honey, 
for a very good and useful thing is some- 
times a very bad one, if out of place. When 
pollen or meal is brought into the hive, it is 
taken, at once, very near to the brood; in 
fact, it is placed in the comb opposite, if 
possible. When opening hives in the spring, 
we find pollen scattered all through the 
brood-combs to some extent; but the two 
combs next to the two outside brood-combs 
are often a solid mass of pollen. Should a 
few stormy days intervene, however, this 
will disappear so quickly that one who has 
not witnessed the rapidity with which it is 
used in brood-rearing would not know how 
to account for it. When it is gone, of 
course the brood rearing must cease, 
although the queen may continue to lay. 
The amount of brood that may be reared by 
keeping a stock supplied with pollen artifi- 
cially, during such unfavorable weather, is a 
very important item, where rapid increase 
of stock is desired. 

Using the candy slabs with 1-4 or 1-5 
wheat flour is, perhaps, the surest way of 
doing this. See Candy for Bees. 

A friend has a house-apiary, where the 
combs are pretty deep, and no upper story 
is used. His comb honey was all secured in 
frames containing sections at the side of the 



PORTICO FOR HIVES. 



191 



PROPOLIS. 



brood. When asked if the bees did not de- 
posit pollen in the sections when used in 
that way he replied, " Not if a comb is in- 
terposed between the brood and the hon- 
ey." This is because they always want the 
pollen next the brood. Now, we can get 
moie comb honey by having it near the 
brood than in any other way ; what shall we 
do to keep out the pollen, and to keep the 
queen from laying eggs in our surplus-honey 
sections? The remedy I have adopted, and 
advised through this work, is the use of the 
tin separators, with the small 1-lb. section 
boxes ; for it is well known that the queen 
is averse to using small pieces of comb, or 
comb near much wood. In our own apiary, 
I have never known the queen to deposit 
eggs in these sections, when thus prepared, 
even if they are placed next the brood- 
combs ; but others have written that they 
are, at times, filled with both brood and pol- 
len, even when thus prepared. If I could 
see the hives, I think I could find the trou- 
ble, yet there may be exceptional cases. The 
frames or sections used in the lower story 
are more likely to be filled with pollen than 
those in the upper story; for if the wide 
frames and sections are so made that but 
about i-inch space is left for the bees to go 
up into them, the queen is very unlikely to 
attempt to go up. 59 An occasional cell of 
pollen will sometimes be found, which I re- 
gret the more, because such combs are much 
more likely to contain worms, if taken out 
in warm weather. If it were not for this 
small, accidental quantity of pollen, I am 
not sure we would ever find worms in the 
comb honey. See Bee-moth. 

PORTICO FOB. HIVES. Although 
no one has ever given a satisfactory reason 
for encumbering a hive with a portico, 
that we know of, still there are many 
who can not be satisfied without them. 
One of our neighbors says they make a com- 
fortable shade for the bees when hanging on 
the outside of the hive ; very likely he is 
right, and we do not know that we care to 
argue the matter with him, but we should 
prefer making the bees comfortable on the 
inside of their hive, where they might be en- 
gaged in some such pastime as building 
comb, etc. If the portico is to be added for 
ornament, we would make one that would 
be ornamental, and would put it only on the 
hives in the front yard, or those in a central 
or conspicuous part of the apiary, but would 
by no means think of encumbering the whole 
of them, upper stories and all, with such an 
unwieldy appendage. The Simplicity hive 



is for real work, and occupies just the small- 
est amount of space possible, consistent 
with this end; and if we are going to 
make it ornamental, it should be by adding 
something that can be taken off whenever 
occasion demands. To this end I have de- 
vised the portico shown below. 




PORTICO, DETACHABLE. 

The top and sides are made of a strip of f 
pine sawed nearly through and bent where 
the angles come, thus giving us neat joints 
at a small expense. The scroll-work under- 
neath, to which the above is nailed, can be 
sawed from a I board by almost any of the 
scroll-sawing machines that are now in such 
common use. The whole is attached to the 
front of the hive by a couple of screws. 
When it is kept free from spiders' webs, and 
nicely painted, I confess that the bees walk- 
ing about their doorway underneath, present 
a very pretty appearance. When dust or 
webs accumulate, the screws may be turned 
partly to allow of its being taken off, and 
thoroughly brushed, or even washed if need 
be. Nothing can be considered ornamental 
about an apiary, that is not neat and tidy. 
These porticos can be well made and neatly 
painted, for about 25 cents. See page 108. 

PROPOLIS. This is the gum or var- 
nish that bees collect for varnishing over 
the inside of their hives, filling cracks and 
crevices, cementing loose pieces of the hive 
together, and for making things fast and 
close generally. It collects, in time, on old 
hives and combs, so as to add very material- 
ly to their weight. It is not generally gath- 
ered in any great quantity until at the close 
of the season, and it seems to be collected 
in response to a kind of instinct that bids 
them prepare for cold weather. I wish I 
were able to tell you more definitely where 
they get it ; it has been suggested that it is 
collected from the resinous buds of the balm- 
of-gilead, and trees of a like nature ; but to 
tell the truth, I do not know that I ever saw 
bees collecting fresh propolis at all. 60 I see 
them almost every day, collecting propolis 
from old hives, old quilts, and pieces of 
refuse wax, when we are so wasteful and 
untidy as to leave any such scattered about. 
That the principal part of it conies from 



PROPOLIS. 



192 



PROPOLIS. 



some particular plant or class of plants, or 
tree, I am pretty well satisfied, for almost 
the same aromatic resinous flavor is notice- 
able, no matter what the locality, or season 
of the year. Bees gather propolis with their 
mandibles, and pack and carry it precisely 
as they do pollen. It is never packed in the 
cells, however, but is applied at once to the 
place wanted. It is often mixed with wax, 
to strengthen their combs, and is applied to 
the cells as a varnish, for the same purpose. 
In the absence of a natural supply, the bees 
frequently resort to various substances, such 
as paints, varnishes, resins, pitch, and the 
like; and the superstition, popular in some 
sections, that bees follow their owner to the 
grave, after his death, probably obtained 
credence from seeing the bees at work on 
the varnish of the coffin. To save the bees 
the trouble of waxing up the crevices in 
their hives, it has been suggested that a 
mixture of melted wax and resin be poured 
into the hive and made to flow along the 
cracks and corners. This may do very well, 
although I fancy the bees can do this better 
and cheaper than we can. Our principal 
trouble has been to get rid of the surplus 
propolis, and I would much rather hear of 
some invention to keep it out of the way, 
than to add more. 

It has been recently suggested, that we 
paint our hives both inside and out, and 
also the frames, except where we wish to 
have the comb attached. From what ex- 
perience I have had with painted bottom- 
boards, I am inclined to favor the idea, for, 
even if propolis is attached to the paint, it 
cleaves off much more readily than from 
the plain wood. By keeping the surface on 
any wood-work on the inside of the hives 
well oiled, or even rubbed with tallow, we 
may almost entirely prevent the accumula- 
tion of propolis. Many inventors of hives, 
and arrangements to be used inside of hives, 
seem utterly oblivious of the fact that eve- 
ry thing, in the course of time, is not only 
waxed over with this gum, but all holes, 
cracks, and interstices, where the bee can 
not crawl, are filled and covered up with 
it. Many new arrangements work nicely 
the first season, but after a year or two 
more are so clogged and fastened up as to 
be utterly impracticable. It is propolis that 
is the great hindrance to all closed - top or 
closed-end frames for brood-combs, to the 
old-fashioned honey - boards, to all sorts of 
slides and hinges, or to any thing else about 
a hive that is to move like machinery. On 
account of the troubles with propolis, I have 



advised a plain, simple box for both the 
chaff and Simplicity hives; and for the same 
reasons, principally, I prefer to use the met- 
al-cornered frames. It is all very well, to 
talk about keeping the propolis out of the 
joints and connections; but in our locality, 

I in the fall of the year, we often have it in 
such quantities that it runs, during a hot 
day, like molasses, all through every part 
of the hive, at times, making one's fingers 

; stick to the utensils so it is almost impossi- 

; ble to lay them down when we would. With 
the ordinary wood top-bars to the frames, 

I when the supporting-arms are removed from 
the rabbets, the propolis will run down so 
that, when the frame is put back, it is bed- 
ded almost as nicely as if it were laid in glue. 
Should the weather be cool when next your 
hive is opened, the frame must be pried 
up with a snap, that is not at all according 
to the liking of our bees, the most of them, 
even if they are pure Italians. To obviate 
this, I believe the metal rabbet, or, at least, 
a strip of hoop iron, is now in general use; 
but the bees will, in time, wax a wood sup- 
porting-arm pretty firmly, even to this; be- 
sides, there is an almost constant liability of 
cutting bees in two when the frames are 

j put in place. I know of no way of working 
safely and rapidly, except with the knife- 
edge supports which the metal corners give ; 
yet I know a great many do not like them. 
In using the wood top-bars, I should always 
carry a small screw-driver in my pocket, 
with which to pry things loose about the 
hive. 

HOW TO KEEr PROPOLIS FROM SURPLUS 
HONEY. 

Of course, the readiest means is to remove 
all sections just as soon as a single one is 
capped over; and, as but little propolis is 
j gathered during a strong yield of honey, 
I but little will be found on the honey, unless 
I it is left until the yield has ceased. The 
| bees not only cover all the wood- work of the 
I sections if left on too long, but they also 
varnish over the whole surface of the white 
capping, almost spoiling the looks and sale 
! of the honey. "We can keep it from the wood 
by having every part of the sections cov- 
ered, when in the hive, except the inner 
[ sides where the combs are attached. Our 
frames for section boxes, as described, do 
this effectually. 

I HOW TO REMOVE PROPOLIS FROM THE FIN- 
GERS. 

A variety of substances have been sug- 
gested. Alcohol is perhaps the neatest, but 
is rather expensive ; benzine answers near- 



PKOPOLIS. 



19:-} 



PROPOLIS. 



ly as well, but has an objectionable odor; 
soap will answer, if a little lard be rubbed 
on the hands first, but will have little effect 
on it otherwise. A friend clown South says 
he has a pair of light cotton gloves, which 
he slips on when handling the waxy frames, 
and his hands are left clean whenever he is 
obliged to stop work. For removing it 
from glass, etc., alcohol is perhaps best. 
When we have much glass soiled, it can 
often be cleaned most expeditiously by boil- 
ing it in a kettle of water with a quantity of 
wood ashes. 

DO THE BEES NEED PKOPOLIS V 

Much discussion has arisen in regard to 
the habit of the bees, of making all openings 
tight with propolis. Theory says, if allowed 
to follow his bent, or instinct, he will 
smother himself to death. Practice says, 
he does, at least at times, so prevent tbe es- 
cape of moisture, that his home gets damp 
and wet, filled with icicles, etc., so that he 
suffers; or, at least, such is the case in the 
hives we have provided for him. Who is 
right— the bee or the enlightened bee-keep- 
er V Well, I think the greater part of the 
fault lies in the hive we have given him. 
The enameled cloth which I have lately been 
using for covering bees is as impervious to 
air and moisture as the propolis he collects 
with so much pains and trouble. If the 
outside of this is allowed to get frosty, it 
will, most assuredly, condense the breath of 
the bees on the inside; and if the outside is 
but thinly protected from the weather, ici- 
cles will certainly form on the inside, and 
freeze the bees all fast in a lump. Now I 
would have no fear at all in having the bees 
wax up every thing as tight as they wished, 



if I could have their winter apartment made 
so small that they completely filled it — filled 
it so full, indeed, as to b© crowded out at 
the entrance, unless in very cold weather — 
and have the entire outside protected with 
some non-conductor that would enable the 
bees to keep the inner walls warm at all 
times, and I think we should have no damp- 
ness. With chaff packing and chaff cush- 
ions, I have succeeded so well that I am 
perfectly willing the little fellows shall fix 
up just as snug for winter as their instinct 
prompts them to do. 

VALUE OF PROPOLIS. 

Although this gum has been used to some 
extent in medicine, I believe it possesses no 
particular value over burgundy pitch and 
other cheap gum resins. 

REMOVING AVAX AND PROPOLIS BY STEAM. 

A friend sends us the following, which 
will prove very serviceable when one has a 
steam-boiler convenient. 

I have tried all the formulas for cleaning- wax 
from utensils, and, in my experience, have found 
that concentrated lye cleans it off faster and more 
thoroughly than any thing else. All the methods are 
troublesome, and it takes time to clean, especially 
the perforations. My plan of cleaning wax from the 
perforated basket of the wax-extractor is, to have 
two pieces of gas-pipe, each one foot long, just large 
enough to screw into the sprinkler of the fountain 
pump. Attach the sprinkler to one end of the pipe, 
procure a globe valve, and screw this on the other 
end, screw one end of the other piece of pipe on the 
globe valve, and the other end into the steam-boiler, 
about one or two inches below the water line. Open 
the valve, and spray the articles covered with wax, 
with steam and hot water. You will be astonished 
to find how quickly it makes things look like new. 

St. Gabrielle, La., Aug. 8, "79. J. A. Pritciiard. 




Q. 



QUEENS. The most important person- 
age in the hive is the queen, or mother-bee. 
She is called the mother-bee because she is, 
in reality, the mother of all the bees in the 
hive. So much has already been said of 
queens, in Artificial Swarming, Drones, 
and Queen-rearing, that I presume our 
ABC class are already pretty well acquaint- 
ed with her majesty, as she is frequently 
designated. 

If you deprive a colony of their queen, the 
bees will set to work and raise another, so 
long as they have any worker-larvae in the 
hive with which to do it. This is the rule, 
but there are some exceptions : the excep- 
tions are so few, however, that it is safe to 
assume that a queen of some kind is present 
in the hive, whenever they refuse to start 
queen-cells from larvae of a proper age. 

What do I mean by a queen of some kind? 
Well, I shall have to tell you that bees, es- 
pecially when deprived of their queens un- 
naturally, and broken up into small colonies 
or nuclei, as beginners are very apt to have 
them, in order to raise a queen, often select 
a worker-larva so old that the queen raised 
from, it is about half worker and half queen. 

IMPERFECTLY DEVELOPED QUEENS. 

Such queens are small, usually dark in col- 
or, and will sometimes become fertilized, and 
lay eggs for a little while (all the way from 
a week to several months), but they are nev- 
er profitable. Sometimes they will not lay 
at all, but will remain in a colony all through 
the season, neither doing any good nor per- 
mitting any other queen to be either intro- 
duced or reared. A wingless queen, or one 
with bad wings, will produce the same re- 
sult. The remedy is to hunt them out and 
remove them. Where they are so near like 
a worker-bee as to make it hard to distin- 
guish them, they may often be detected by 
the peculiar behavior of the bees toward 
them. See Introducing Queens. 

So far as I have been able to make out, 
these half -worker queens are the result of 
trying to raise a queen when there are too 



few bees, or when the larvae with which they 
are obliged to rear a queen are too old ; that 
is, too nearly ready to seal up. Where they 
can do no better, they will undertake to rear 
a queen from a larva only one day before 
sealing up; it will be, at this age, almost full 
size, being 8 days from the time the egg was 
laid. They enlarge the cell, dose it with the 
royal jelly, and from that time onward it 
has the care given a queen from the egg. I 
have watched such queens when they first 
came from the cell, and some of them were 
little, if any, different from a common work- 
er; others would have the body a little more 
elongated, and a peculiar taper, or slimness, 
that, to a practiced eye, invariably distin- 
guishes the queen from the worker. 

nOW A WORKER-EGG IS MADE TO PRODUCE 
A QUEEN. 

This is a question often asked, and it is 
one that puzzles me about as much to an- 
swer, as any question a visitor can ask. I 
cannot promise to tell you all about it, but I 
will tell you all I know about it. We will 
first get a frame of eggs, as we did in study- 
ing Bees, but we will vary the experiment 
by putting it in a colony having no queen. 
The minute eggs will hatch into larvae as be- 
fore, but about as soon as they begin to 
hatch, if you look carefully you will see 
some of the cells supplied with a greater 
profusion of the milky food than others. 
Later, these cells will begin to be enlarged, 
and soon at the expense of the adjoining 
ones. These are queen-cells, and they are 
something like the cup of an acorn in shape, 
and usually occupy about the space of three 
ordinary cells. In the drawing given, you 
will see cells in different stages of growth. 

At A, is a cell just being converted into a 
queen-cell; at B, one where the thin walls 
are extended so as to form a queen-cell prop- 
er, almost ready to seal up; at C, a cell just 
sealed. This occurs at just about 9 days 
from the time the egg was laid. In 7 days 
more, 16 days in all from the time the egg 
was laid, the queen will hatch out, a perfect 



QUEENS. 



190 



QUEENS. 



insect. Now bear in mind exactly what I 
say, or you will get confused. If, instead of 
eggs, larva; C days old are given the bees, they 
will rear a queen, and, in this case, she will 
hatch in only 10 days after the larva? were 
given them. These 10-day queens may be 
just as good as any; but to be on the safe 
side, I would prefer giving them larva? one 
or two days younger, that they might have 
the benefit of this excess of food and larger 
cell, during the whole of their larval period. 
The 6-day larva? are quite large fellows, as 
you will see by the cut under the head of 
Bees. 



p> iif, IP 1 ,'-. 1 ,;> 



QUEEN-CELLS. 

There are some queer things about queen- 
cells, as you will notice. After the -cell is 
sealed, they go and put a great excess of 
wax on it, give it a long tapering point, and 
corrugate the sides something like a thim- 
ble, as shown at C. This corrugation, or 
roughness, when closely examined, will be 
seen to be honey-comb on a very small scale. 
Now right here is a point that you will not 
fail to observe : Bees, like other folks, some- 
times make mistakes ; for they do not seem 
to know any better than to use a drone-lar- 
va for rearing a queen, if, such happens to 
be present. Therefore, when selecting eggs 
for this purpose, be sure you do not give 
them any contained in drone comb. They 
will go right on, and dose the poor drone 
with the royal jelly, but the poor fellow usu- 
ally dies before it is time to hatch out, and 
then the bees and their owner wait in vain 
for the cell to hatch. It has been reported 
of late, that the inmate of such a cell some- 
times hatches, but he is only a drone, even 
then, and not a queen. Well, I am glad to 
be able to tell you that you never need waste 
time on this kind of cells, for the bees have 
a way of marking them, unconsciously, it 
would seem, too. Queen - cells containing 

* Once in a great while there is an exception to 
even this rule: it is when the bees build an unusual- 
ly large queen-cell with corrugations so large and 
fanciful that it is really miniature honey-comb over 
the surface of the queen-cell. The only reason I 
can suggest for this is, that it is because they are 
out of work, and want something to do. 



drone - larva? are always smooth, having no 
corrugation, so you can always detect and 
remove them before valuable time is wasted. 
We have pictured one at D. 

Now, it is very handy to be able to tell 
about when any queen-cells you may happen 
to find unexpectedly will be likely to hatch ; 
and the bees are very accommodating in this 
respect also; for, about the day before the 
queen hatches, or it may be two days, they 
go and tear down this long peak of wax on 
the tip of the cell, and leave only a very thin 
covering, as shown at E. I do not know 
what this is for, unless it is because they are 
anxious to get a peep at their new mother. 
It has been said, they do it that she may be 
better able to pierce the capping; but some- 
times they omit the proceeding entirely, 
and I have not been able to see that she has 
any difficulty in cutting the cap off. If the 
cell is built on new comb, or on a sheet of 
fdn., and it be held up before a strong light, 
at about the 15th day, or a little later, you 
will see the queen moving about in the cell. 
A little later, by listening carefully, you can 
hear her gnawing her way out. Pretty soon 
the points of her sharp and powerful mandi- 
bles will be seen protruding, as she bites out 
a narrow line. Since she turns her body in 
a circle while doing this, she cuts out a cir- 
cle so true that it often looks as if cut out 
by a pair of compasses. Now observe, that 
the substance of which the cell is made is 
tough and leathery, and, therefore, before 
she gets clear around her circle, the piece 
springs out in response to her pushing, and 
opens just about as the lid of a coffee-pot 
would, if a kitten should happen to be inside 
crowding against the lid. I have often seen 
them push the door open and look out, with 
as much apparent curiosity as a child exhib- 
its when it first creeps to the door on a sum- 
mer morning : often, after taking this look, 
they will back down into their cradle, and 
stay some time. This is especially the case 
when other queens are hatching, and there 
is a strife as to who will be the reigning sov- 
ereign. 

We shall have to go hack a little, and con- 
sider this strange substance called 

KOYAL JELLY. 

The milky food before described, which is 
given to the young larva?, and which is sup- 
posed to be a mixture of pollen and honey 
partially digested, is very similar, if not 
identical, in composition with the royal jel- 
ly. The bees are not the only examples in 
the animal kingdom, where the food is taken 
into the stomach by the parent, and, after a 
partial digestion, is thrown up for the use of 



QUEENS. 



197 



QUEENS. 



the offspring. Pigeons feed their young 
precisely in this way, until they are able to 
digest the food for themselves. It has been 
stated that bees use a coarser food for the 
worker-larvae, after they are a few days old, 
and also for the drone - larvae, during the 
whole of their larval state. What I mean 
by a coarser food is, a food not so perfectly 
digested ; in fact, drones are said to be fed 
on a mixture of pollen and honey, in a state 
nearly natural. This may be so, but I have 
no means of proving it to my satisfaction. 
It has also been said, that the queens receive 
the very finest, most perfectly digested, and 
concentrated food that they can prepare. 
This I can readily believe, for the royal jelly 
has a very rich taste — something between 
cream, quince jelly, and honey — with a 
slightly tart and a rank, strong, milky taste 
that is quite sickening, if much of it be tak- 
en. I am much inclined to think that the 
same food that is given the young larvae at 
first will form royal jelly, if left exposed to 
the air, as it is in the broad, open queen- 
cells. After a queen has hatched it is some- 
times found dried down hard, and looks 
much like stiff fruit-jelly. Whether this is 
the product of the milky food when allowed 
to stand, as I have suggested, is a question 
to be decided. The bees, when rearing 
queens, furnish this food in profusion, and I 
have seen, during the swarming time, single 
combs that contained a good spoonful, de- 
posited, of course, in queen - cells. Here is 
quite an unexplored region that I wish the 
ABC class would work up, and report 
upon. 

WHAT DOES THE QUEEN DO WHILE SEALED 
DP? 

Candidly, I do not know very much about 
it, although I have opened cells at every 
stage after they were sealed, until they were 
ready to hatch. One day after being sealed, 
they are simply ordinary larvae, although 
rather larger than worker larvae of the same 
age; after two or three days, a head begins 
gradually to be " mapped out," if that is the 
proper expression, and later, some legs are 
seen folded up; last of all, a pair of delicate 
wings come from somewhere, I hardly know 
how. Two days before hatching I have tak- 
en them out of the cell, and had them ma- 
ture into perfect queens, by simply keeping 
them in a warm place. I have also taken 
them out of the cell before they were ma- 
ture, held the white, still, corpse - like form 
in my hand while I admired it as long as I 
chose, then put it back, waxed up the cell 
by warming a bit of wax in my fingers, and 



had it hatch out three days after, as nice a 
queen as any. Mr. Langstroth mentions 
having seen the whole operation by placing 
a thin glass tube, open at both ends, into the 
cell, so as to have it inclose the queen, the 
bees being allowed to cap it as usual. If I 
am correct, this experiment was first made 
by Huber. With several such glass queen- 
cells, and a lamp nursery, I presume the 
whole operation could be watched from be- 
ginning to end. Who will be first to do this, 
and give us a history of the changes? 

DAVIS 1 TRANSPOSITION PROCESS. 

In the month of August, 1874, after I had 
discovered how to send larva? for queen-rear- 
ing safely by mail for short distances, our 
friend J. L. Davis, of Delhi, Ingham Co., 
Mich., wrote that he should get a large num- 
ber of queens from the piece I sent him, for 
he was going to remove the larvae from the 
cells and place them in queen - cells already 
started in his hives ; of course, removing the 
original larvae first. I caught at the idea at 
once, and went to some hives of hybrids that 
had persisted in tearing down all the cells 
given them, and building others from their 
own brood, and removed the larvae from all 
the cells, substituting larvae from the im- 
ported queen in its stead. I used a quill 
toothpick for making the transposition. 
Almost every cell was built out and capped , 
just as well as if they had kept their own 
black stock. In due time I had as nice a 
lot of fine yellow queens as I ever reared. 
We have practiced this method almost ev- 
ery year since. 

Mr. Davis described his invention in the 
Sept. No. of Gleanings for 1874, and it 
has been commented on, and suggestions 
added, in almost every volume since. From 
letters received from other parties, it seems 
that he may not have been the first person 
to make the discovery that larvae could be 
thus safely transposed; but as he was the 
first one who made the discovery known to 
the public, and put it into practical and prof- 
itable use, he certainly deserves all credit 
and honor for his discovery, and a vote of 
thanks for generously giving it to the world 
at once, without any thought of reserving it 
for his own private benefit, as he might have 
done. 

During the past season we have used a 
tiny silver spoon, made on purpose for re- 
moving the larvae, and as much of the milky 
food along with it as is possible. I need 
hardly caution you that these small larvae 
are very tender and delicate, and will hardly 
bear so much as a touch, without injury. 
13 



QUEENS. 



198 



QUEENS. 



AVIIAT BECOMES OF TIIE QUEEN AFTER SHE 
GETS OUT OF TIIE CELL? 

I am glad to say, that I can tell you, by 
personal observation, pretty nearly what a 
queen does after she pushes open that 
hinged door that I told you of, and which 
you will find illustrated under the head of 
Queen-rearing. She generally begins to 
put her head into the cells until she finds 
one containing unsealed honey, from which 
she takes a sup that, at least, indicates that 
she likes that kind of provision. May I di- 
gress enough here to ask, if it does not al- 
most seem proper to siy that she remembers 
where honey is to be had ? She never exist- 
ed before, it is true; but are you sure she 
does not remember at all what her mother 
and grandmother did ages and ages before 
herV It may be as well to say she does it by 
instinct, but I confess that term hardly sat- 
isfies me. 

After she has had her supper she begins 
to crawl about, partly to enjoy using the long 
strong legs God has given her, and perhaps 
because she "•remembers"' that it is her allot- 
ted task to tear down the remaining quee-n- 
cells. if such there are.. If other queens have 
hatched before her, it is one of her first and 
foremost duties to look them up, and either 
reign supreme or die in the attempt. If all 
the other cells have been removed, as they 
usually are where queens are wanted for 
other purposes, she lias nothing to do but to 
promenade over the premises, monarch of 
all she surveys. If she ever sits down to 
take a rest, or takes a rest in any other po- 
sition, during the first week of her life, I 
have never been able to discover it. She is 
always traveling about, and this is one rea- 
son why I am averse to caging young 
queens, in order that we may allow several 
to hatch in the same hive. It seems to be 
natural for them to run about, and I believe 
it is necessary for their well-being. Several 
yaars ago I thought I had made a brilliant 
discovery when I succeeded in hatching all 
the queen-cells in the hive, under cups made 
of wire cloth. The fust hatched was al- 
lowed to run until she became fertile, and 
began laying ; she was then removed, and 
the next released, and so on. I think I suc- 
ceeded in getting four laying queens from 
the single lot of cells, all in the one hive, but 
the bees made such desperate efforts to get 
the obnoxious cages out of the way, and the 
inmates of the cages to get out, that I gave 
up the plan, after seeing several fine queens 
die of nothing else, so far as I could see, than 
confinement. 



But suppose she does find another cell ; 
what then? Well, she sometimes rons 
around it awhile; sometimes the bees tear 
it clown, and sometimes she tears it down 
herself, with the same strong mandibles that 
she used to cut her way out of the cell at 
first. She usually makes the opening in the 
side of the cell, as shown in the accompany- 
ing cut. 




QUEEJ- JELL TOKN OPEN. 

.Noav, it is said that the queen immediately 
stings her helpless immature sister, to make 
a sure thing of her destruction ; but of this 
I am not certain, for I never saw her in the 
act of so doing. I have seen spots in the 
side of the queen that looked much as if she 
had been stung, but I have also rescued cells 
and put them in the lamp nursery after they 
had been torn open, and had them mature 
into nice queens. As these immature queens 
are very soft, the workers will soon pick 
them out of the cell, piece by piece, and I 
have sometimes placed them in the lamp 
nursery and had them mature, minus a wing 
or leg, or whatever portion the mischievous 
worker had pulled away. I judge from 
many such observations that the queen gen- 
erally tears a hole in the cell, or bites into it 
in such a way that the workers take hold of 
it, and tear it all down, much in the way 
they do any mutilated or broken piece of 
comb. 61 When queen-cells have been cut out, 
all the larva 1 that are in any way injured are at 
once thrown out, and none but the perfect 
cells preserved. Bees never fuss with crip- 
ples, or in trying to nurse up a bee that is 
wounded or maimed. They have just the 
same feeling for their fellows that a locomo- 
tive might be expected to have for a man 
whom it had run over. They battle against 
any thing that threatens the extinction of 
the colony, it is true; but I have never been 
able to discover any signs of their caring for 
one of their number, or even having com- 
passion on their helpless brood, when it is 
wounded and suffering. If a hole is made 
in a queen-cell, by the queen or anybody 
else, they are very likely to tear it down and 
throw it away. When a queen hatches, the 
remaining cells are very soon torn down, as 



QUEENS. 



199 



QUEENS. 



a general thing, but there are many excep- 
tions. When two queens hatch ont at about 
the same time, they also generally proceed 
to kill each other; but I have never heard of 
both being killed. This probably results 
from the fact that they can only sting their 
rivals in one certain way, and the one that, 
by strength or accident, gets the lucky posi- 
tion in the combat, is sure to come off vic- 
tor. This explains how a very inferior vir- 
gin queen, that has got into the hive by ac- 
cident, may sometimes supplant an old lay- 
ing queen. Two queens, when thus thrown 
together, generally fight very soon, but this 
is not always the case. Several cases are on 
record where they have lived in peace and 
harmony for months, even when hatched at 
about the same time, and it is quite common 
to find a young queen helping her mother 
in the egg-laying duties of the hive, espe- 
cially when the mother is two or three years 
old. If the season is good, and the hive pop- 
ulous, very often, instead of a fight, they di- 
vide up their forces in some way, and we 
have After-smarming, which see. 

Sometimes the queen will pay no attention 
to the remaining cells, but will let them 
hatch out, and then their "little differences" 
are adjusted afterward, either by swarming 
or by the usual "hand-to-hand'' conflict "un- 
til death." I once looked for a-queen, and, 
not finding her, concluded she was Inst. 
Another cell was inserted, and in due time 
hatched out. I was much surprised to find 
my new queen laying when only one day 
old; but a little further looking revealed the 
two, both on the same comb. Many losses 
in introducing queens have resulted from 
two queens being in the hive, the owner be- 
ing sure his hive was queenless, because lie 
had removed one. 

QUEENS' VOICES. 

When a colony swarms naturally, the 
young queens of the after-swarms have a 
queer way of calling to each other, when 
about to hatch out, I suppose, or when they 
have their cell-doors open, and are afraid to 
emerge. 02 The note they utter is more like 
"zeep, zeep, zeep," than anything else I can 
spell, and their tones are so different that it 
is really amusing to hear them call." It is 
common to hear them where there are two 
queens in the same hive, in a fighting mood, 
or stirred by jealousy ; and I often hear this 
call when simply passing by the hives in 
swarming season. The queen sometimes 
utters this call at other times, though not 
often. When a young queen is being intro- 
duced she will frequently utter a similar 



note of alarm, and some of our friends have 
called it " squealing." The bees are almost 
always stirred by these notes of the queen, 
and they will often turn and run after her 
and cling around her like a ball, when they 
would have paid no attention to her had she 
not uttered this well-known note. After 
you have once heard it, you will recognize it 
ever afterward. Queens, when placed near 
together in cages, will often call and ans- 
wer each other, in tones that we have sup- 
posed might be challenges to mortal combat. 
Some queens received this summer from 
W. P. Henderson, of Murfreesboro, Tenn., 
called so loudly, when placed on our table, 
that they could be heard clear across a long 
room. One voice would be on a high, shrill 
key, and another a deep bass, while others 
were intermediate. On watching closely, a 
tremulous movement of the wings was no- 
ticed while the queen was uttering the 
note, from which I infer that the sound is 
produced by the wings, in a manner similar 
to that in which katydids and locusts pro- 
duce their peculiar notes. The fact that a 
queen may be prevented from " squealing " 
while being introduced, by daubing her 
wings with honey, is also conclusive that 
the sound is produced by the wings. That 
these sounds from the queen have the power 
of controlling certain movements of the 
bees I am well aware, but I do not know 
just how or to what extent this intluence 
works. 

VIRGIN QUEENS. 

The newly hatched queen is termed a vir- 
gin queen to distinguish her from queens 
that have been fertilized by the drone,. and 
are laying. Virgin queens, when first 
hatched, are sometimes nearly as large as a 
fertile queen, but they gradually decrease in 
size; and when three or four days old they 
often look so small and insignificant that a 
novice is disgusted with their appearance, 
and, if he is hasty, pronounces them good 
for nothing. Eor the first week of their 
lives they crawl about much as an ordinary 
young worker does, and it is often very diffi- 
cult, if not almost impossible, to find them, 
unless an amount of time is taken that is 
more than a busy apiarist can well afford to 
spare. In Queen-rearing I have advised 
not to look for them, but to insert a small 
piece of comb containing larva?, and, if no 
cells are started, to decide that the queen is 
present, without looking. This piece of lar- 
vae answers a. threefold purpose. It tells at 
a .glance whether the queen is in the hive 
all right or not; for the very moment she is 



QUEENS. 



lost, they will start more queen-cells on it ; 
it enables the bees to start another queen, 
in case the queen is lost by any accident in 
her wedding-flight, which is frequently the 
case; and, lastly, it serves as a sort of nucleus 
to hold the bees together, and to keep them 
from going out with the queen on her wed- 
ding-trip, which they are much disposed to 
to do, if in a small nucleus containing no 
brood. Unsealed brood in a hive is a great 
safeguard against accidents of all sorts, and 
I have often started a young queen to lay- 
ing by simply giving the bees some eggs 
and unsealed brood. Whether it caused her 
to rouse up and take her wedding - flight, or 
whether she had taken it, but was for some 
reason idle, I can not say ; but this I know, 
that young queens that do not lay at two 
weeks of age will often commence, when 
eggs and larvae are given to their colonies. 
It may be that the sight of eggs and larvae 
suggests to them the next step in affairs, or 
it may induce the workers to feed them, as 
they do a laying queen, an unusual quantity 
of food. 63 

AGE AT WHICH VIRGIN QUEENS TAKE THEIR 
WEDDING-FLIGHT. 

Our books seem to disagree considerably 
on this point, and I am afraid that many of 
the book-makers find it easier to copy from 
the sayings of others than to make practi- 
cal experiments. It has been variously stat- 
ed, at from two to ten days : some go as far 
as to say that the queen goes out to meet the 
drones the day after leaving the cell. 64 It is 
quite likely that some difference arises from 
the fact that queens often stay in the cell a 
day or two after they are strong enough to 
walk about. Sometimes a queen will be 
found walking about the combs when she is 
so young as to be almost white ; I have oft- 
en seen beginners rejoice at their beautiful 
yellow queens, saying that they were yellow 
all over, without a bit of black on them; but 
when looked at again, they would be found 
to be as dark as the generality of queens. 
At other times when they come out of the 
cell they will look, both in color and size, 
as if they might be three or four days old. 
The queens in our apiary generally begin to 
crawl about the entrance of the hive, possi- 
bly looking out now and then, when 5 or 6 
days old. The next day, supposing of course 
we have fine weather, they will generally go 
out and try their wings a little. These flights 
are usually taken in the warmest part of the 
afternoon. I know of no prettier or more 
interesting sight to the apiarist than the 
first flight of a queen. Perhaps a few hours 



201 QUEENS. 

before he had looked ather, and been dis- 
appointed at her small and insignificant ap- 
pearance ; but now, as she ventures out cau- 
tiously on the alighting - board, with her 
wings slightly raised, her tapering body 
elongated and amazingly increased in size, 
he looks in wonder, scarcely believing she 
can be the same insect. She runs this way 
and that, something as does a young bee, 
only apparently much more excited at the 
prospect of soaring aloft in the soft summer 
air. Finally she tremblingly spreads those 
long silky wings, and with a graceful move- 
ment that I can not remember to have seen 
equaled anywhere in the whole scope of an- 
imated nature, she swings from her feet, 
while her long body sways pendulously as 
she hovers about the entrance of the hive. 
When I first beheld one on the wing there 
was a queer feeling of having seen some- 
thing similar, years ago, and I might have 
reasoned that I was remembering something 
my father or grandfather had seen, did I not 
know that none of them were ever bee-keep- 
ers. Below I have tried to give you a pic- 
ture of 




A VIRGIN QUEEN UPON THE WING. 

A worker-bee hovers about the entrance 
and carefully takes his points when he tries 
his wings for the first time; but she, seem- 
ing to feel instinctively that she is of more 
value to the colony than many, many work- 
ers, with the most scrupulous exactness 
notes every minute point and feature of the 
exterior of her abode, often alighting and 
taking wing again and again, to make sure 
she knows all about it. I remember that, 
when I saw one for the first time go through 
with all these manoeuvres, I became impa- 
tient of so much circumlocution, and if I did 
not say, I felt like saying — 

" There! there! old lady ; you certainly 
know where you live now; do you suppose a 



QUEENS. 



202 



QUEENS. 



fellow can stay here all the afternoon, neg- 
lecting his business, just to see you start off 
on your lirst journey in life?" 

By and by she ventures to circle a little 
way from home, always bringing back soon, 
but being gone longer and longer each time. 
She sometimes goes back into the hive sat- 
isfied, without going out of sight at all ; but, 
in this case, she will be sure to take a longer 
Might next day, or a halt-hour later in the 
same day. During these seasons she seems 
to lie so intent on the idea she has in her lit- 
tle head, that she forgets all about surround- 
ing things, and, instead of being frightened 
as usual at your opening the hive, she will 
pay no attention to you; but if you lift 
up the comb she is on she will take her Bight 
from that as well as from anywhere else. 1 
have caught them in my hand at such times, 
without their being frightened at all; but as 
soon as they were allowed to go, they were 
off as if nothing had happened. After she 
is satisfied that she will know the place, she 
ventures out boldly; and from the fact of her 
circling right up in tiie air. we have, until 
lately, supposed that fertilization took place 
above the ken of human eyesight. This lias 
recently been shown to be ;i mistake. 1 think. 
Altera successful flight, she returns with the 
organs of the drone remaining attached to 
her body. See DRONES. This is a. white 
substance, and is frequently so large as to 
be plainly seen while she is on the wing. I 
should think a queen is usually gone half an 
hour, but I have seen them return fertilized 
after an absence of not more than 10 or 1"> 
minutes. This accomplished, she goes qui- 
etly into the hive. The. bees are much in- 
clined to chase after her, and they some- 
times pull at the 'protruding substance as it 
they would drag it away, but 1 am inclined 
to think it is eventually absorbed into the 
body of the queen. In looking at her the 
day alter, all the trace of it you will observe 
will be possibly a shriveled thread. In one 
day more you will, as a general rule, find 
her depositing eggs. I presume the average 
age at which our queens are laying is about 
days ; we generally wait 10 days from the 
date of hatching, and are then pretty sure 
of finding them ready to send off. Between 
the fertilization and the time the first egg is 
laid a remarkable change takes place. Aft- 
er the queen has been out and fertilized, 
her appearance is much the same as before. 
She runs and hides when the hive is opened, 
and looks so small and insignificant, 
one would not think of calling her a fer- 
tile queen. A few hours before the first e^ 



is laid, however, her body increases remark- 
ably in size, and, if an Italian, becomes 
lighter in color, and, instead of running 
about as before, she walks slowly and se- 
dately, and seems to have given up all her 
youthful freaks, and come down to the so- 
ber business of life, in supplying the cells 
with eggs. 

IIOW OLD A QUEEN MAY BE AND STILL BE- 
COME FERTILIZED. 

As I have said before, our queens usually 
begin to lay when 8 or 10 clays old, on the 
average; but, during a dearth of pasturage, 
or when drones are scarce, they may fail to 
lay until three weeks old. The longest 
period I have ever known to elapse between 
the birth of a queen and laying, when she 
produced worker-eggs, was 25 days. I think 
I would destroy all queens that do not lay at 
the age of 20 days, if the season, flow of hon- 
ey, flight of drones, etc., is all right. There 
is one important exception to this. Many 
times, queens will not lay in the fall at all, 
unless a How of honey is produced either by 
natural or artificial means. Queens intro- 
duced in Sept. and Oct. will often not lay 
at all until the ensuing spring, unless the 
colony is fed regularly every day for a week 
or 10 days. Also young queens that are fer- 
tilized late in the season will often show no 
indications of being fertilized until the col- 
ony is fed as I have indicated. A lot of 
young queens that I thought might be fer- 
tilized but did not lay, I once wintered over, 
just to try the experiment; and although 
they went into winter quarters looking very 
small, like virgin, queens, they nearly all 
proved tine layers in the spring. 

DRONE-LAYING QUEKNs. 

If a queen is not fertilized in two weeks 
from the time she is hatched, she will often 
commence laying without being fertilized at 
all. She is then what we call a drone-laying 
queen. Usually her eggs are not deposited 
in the regular order of a fertile queen, 
neither are there as many of them ; but, by 
these marks, we are able only to guess that 
she may not be all right, and so keep her 
until some of the brood is capped, when the 
extra height of the cappings, as I have ex- 
plained under Drones, will tell the story. 
At times, however, the eggs are deposited 
so regularly that we are deceived, and the 
queen may be sold for a fertile queen, when 
she is only a worthless drone-layer ; but Ave 
always discover it after the brood is capped, 
and send our customer another queen. Such 
a case occurs, perhaps once in a hundred. 
Whether these drone layers are just as good 



QUEENS. 



203 



QUEENS. 



to furnish supplies of drones for the apiary 
as the drones reared from a fertile queen, is 
a point, I believe, not fully decided ; but if 
you care for my opinion, I should say, if the 
queen lays the eggs in drone-comb, and the 
drones are large, line, and healthy, I believe 
them to be just as good. I would not want 
to use drones reared from fertile workers, or 
drones reared in worker-cells, as those from 
drone-laying queens sometimes are. 

THE MEETING BETWEEN THE QUEEN AND 
DRONE. 

Within the past year of 1878, many new 
facts have been furnished in regard to the 
matter. It seems that the drones soon spy 
out the queen as she is circling about among 
them, and pursue her, much in the way you 
have seen bumble-bees chase each other 
about in the air. As the queen starts out, 
she curves her body backward in rather an 
unusual way, as you see by the cut of the 
queen upon the wing. I have long supposed 
that there was some especial purpose in 
this, and recent events seem to corroborate 
the idea. The meeting of the two insects 
takes place while they are on the wing; and 
as they are always seen whirling rapidly 
about each other, it seems rather difficult to 
determine just how fertilization is accom- 
plished, unless the bodies of both are curved 
considerably out of the usual position. The 
drone probably takes much the attitude 
of a worker - bee in the act of using his 
sting, the peculiar curve of the lower part 
of the queen's body favoring this. The act 
accomplished, both insects use their wings 
in such a way that they revolve in opposite 
directions, and the separation is thus effect- 
ed in much the same way as a worker - bee 
withdraws his sting, when allowed to do so 
at his leisure, by twisting around continu- 
ously, as if he were unscrewing it from a 
board. The organ of the drone. is so firmly 
implanted in the body of the queen that it 
is torn from his body, with all attachments, 
very like the way in which a bee loses his 
sting. It has been stated that the drone ex- 
pires with a sudden contracting of his body, 
as if he were struck by lightning. I am in- 
clined to think this a mistake, and that he 
sometimes crawls about a minute or more, 
and doubles up as he dies, as a queen or 
worker does. I would be glad of reports 
from those who have witnessed these phe- 
nomena, that I may make corrections in 
what I have stated, if I have got any thing 
wrong. Nature, to make sure the drone or- 
gan is not withdrawn, has furnished a won- 
derful piece of mechanism, that eome§ }ntg 



play at just the right moment. I will try 
to explain it to you. Under the article 
Drones, I mentioned to you that if the body 
of a drone is pressed in a certain way, just 
as he is leaving the hive, the body will 
sometimes burst open, in a manner some- 
thing like the popping of corn, throwing out 
the male organ. Suppose you take the fin- 
ger to a glove, and push in the tip, as if you 
were going to turn it inside out; well, now 
if you should blow forcibly in the glove, or 
even compress the finger when full of air, 
this tip would be violently thrown outward. 
It is supposed that the body of a drone is 
formed something in this way, and the ex- 
trusion of the organ is occasioned by a pow- 
erful muscular contraction of the rings 
composing his body, while under the influ- 
ence of such strong excitement. Well, now 
suppose we liken the body of the queen to 
another glove - finger, having a transverse 
cut across the end of it. This slit is deep 
enough to allow the body of the queen to 
open in two parts ; and the opening is capa- 
ble of being extended to nearly the whole 
size of the body of the queen. When the 
drone, while on the wing, succeeds in strik- 
ing the point of his body partially into this 
opening, the sudden muscular contraction 
takes place, and his body is, in a measure, 
turned inside outward, projecting the male 
organ with all its attachments into the body 
of the queen, and, perhaps, liberating the 
seminal fluid at the same time. Now, na- 
ture has provided two queer-shaped horns 
that project from the organ of the male, fit- 
ting the interior organ of the queen ; these 
are seen very distinctly when the drone is 
pressed, as before mentioned. These horns 
alone would seem to be enough to prevent 
withdrawal; but nature, to make sure, has 
furnished them on their outer surfaces with 
a sort of horny scales, or minute hairs, that 
stand something like the beard on a head of 
wheat ; they can go forward but never back- 
ward, and therefore there is no way but for 
the poor drone to lose his life by having it 
torn out of him, in an instant. Nature has 
also made provision for the easy separation 
of these organs by placing them loosely in 
his body, and so that after they are thrown 
out by a no very great pressure, the attach- 
ments, which are only a membrane, give way 
readily, by the twisting process I have de- 
scribed. 

Why is nature thus, as it would seem to 
us, needlessly cruel? Well, I presume there 
is some very good reason, even if we can 
not now see it. The single fertilization of 



QUEENS. 



H04 



QUEENS. 



the queen must, for very good reasons, last 
for years, if not for the whole of her life. 
This being the case, it would not be strange 
if such a draft on the constitution of the 
male were greater than he could stand, and 
be serviceable afterward for the purpose for 
which he was created. Nature, to make all 
things sure, seems to have found it fitting 
that he should expire in the act : as he has 
no other purpose of existence, so far as we 
know, is it not just as well? 

It has been suggested that this act can 
take place only while both sexes are on the 
wing ; that unless the body of the drone 
were inflated with air, as when flying, this 
wonderful bursting asunder of his organ- 
ism, like the mature seed-pods of the touch- 
me-not, could not well take place. I believe 
instances have been observed when the 
meeting took place where the insects were 
confined, yet had liberty enough so they 
could buzz about or whirl about each other ; 
but as a general tiling, unless the parties 
have the liberty of the open air, and have 
perfect wings, fertilization is impossible. 
Where you have reason to think the wings 
of a queen are not absolutely perfect, you 
can test the matter by throwing her up in 
the air in front of her hive. I have done 
this many times with queens that did not 
lay when about two weeks old. and they are 
almost invariably found to be unable to 
rise easily in the air. It has been said, that 
queens with bad wings are sometimes found 
producing worker - brood. I have never 
round such a case, but the testimony from 
careful and reliable parties seems to indi- 
cate that it does sometimes happen. One 
who is inexperienced in these matters would 
hardly think of the many chances there are 
to be mistaken : it is now found to be a rath- 
er common occurrence for two queens to be 
in the same hive, and the worker-brood 
credited to the queen with imperfect wings 
from birth may easily belong to another. 
Again, the bees often attack a queen when 
returning from her bridal-trip, and, if they 
do not kill her, maim her by biting off a 
wing, a leg, or perhaps both. If you should 
find a young queen with half a wing, or per- 
haps only a stump, producing workers, how 
many of you would not decide at once that 
she must have been fertilized in the hive? 
I once had an Italian queen nearly black, 
that produced beautiful yellow workers. 
She was missed, and finally turned up in a 
neighboring hive, which, to my astonish- 
ment, was found to be Italians, instead of 
hybrids. She was found busily at work, but 



possessed scarcely the vestige of a wing. 
Bees often mutilate the wings of queens 
which are being introduced, and sometimes, 
during a scarcity of honey, attack their own 
queens, and mar their appearance in this 
way. I think, before deciding it will be 
well to await further facts and investiga- 
tion. See Artificial Fertilization. 

SHALL WE CLIP THE QUEEN'S WINGS? 

At one time I was strongly in favor of 
clipping the wings of all queens, just as soon 
as they were found laying. As they often 
got out in the grass during swarming-time, 
and got lost, when they would probably 
have been saved if they had had their wings, 
I afterward concluded that I did not want 
the wings of my queens clipped. In selling 
queens, since then, very many of them have 
flown away while being introduced, and I 
have begun to decide that clipping them is 
perhaps the lesser of the two evils. To pre- 
vent them from flying, it has been suggested 
that they be daubed with honey, which the 
bees will soon lick off; this did very well 
until some one reported a queen that had to 
be re-caged. The honey dried on her body, 
and killed her. Just now (Nov. 11th, 1878) 
the question is also being discussed as to 
whether a laying queen ever leaves the hive 
I for a second fertilization. The facts indi- 
| cate very strongly that imported queens, 
and others that have been a long time con- 
fined so that they can not lay, sometimes do 
this. Clipping will certainly prevent this, 
' although it may result in the loss of the 
queen. I think I prefer the chance of loss, 
! rather than that of a tested queen turn- 
1 ing hybrid but I dislike the idea of clipping 
a queen just before starting her off on a 
journey. To make it sure that there can 
be no flying, I would clip the greater part of 
both large wings; the small wings being 
perfect, although smaller, will give her a 
symmetrical appearance, while cutting off 
both wings on one side always makes her 
look ever afterward very much like a crip- 
ple. If a queen is ever so fine, few people 
can see her beauty when she has two long 
wings on one side and none on the other. 

CLIPPING QUEENS' WINGS. 

For this purpose you want a pair of slen- 
der - pointed embroidery scissors. They 
must be just as keen and sharp at the points 
as they can be made ; for it will never do to 
have the wing of a valuable queen double 
up, or catch so as to frighten her out of her 
little senses. With good scissors you can 
lift a wing and Clip it off without her hardly 



QUEENS. 



205 



QUEENS. 



knowing it ; but where two are to be clipped, 
it may be well to adopt the plan given by 
one of our feminine contributors (especially 
if you are nervous, and inclined to be fidgetty 
in doing such work), as follows: 

CLIPPING QUEENS' WINGS. 

While it may be easy for you to open the Simplic- 
ity hive, lift the right tin-cornered frame, and clip 
the queen before she knows you are around, I be- 
lieve most of your readers, especially those who 
have other hives, other frames, and less steady 
hands, would, 99 times in 100, by some slip or jar, 
apprise her majesty of danger. Then, by following 
your advice, to close the hive and be more careful 
next time, I believe they would still fail 98 times in 
100. At this rate of progress, how many tim^s 
would 1C0 hives need to be opened to clip 1C0 queens? 

After the queen has taken alarm, she can be clip- 
ped by following her with the open scissors all about 
the comb, all over your lap, all up your sleeve, etc., 
till, in some favorable instant, you dare to close the 
scissors upon the coveted lace wing. But this oper- 
ation is the most trying to the nerves of any that 
I ever did, and 1 could not advise beginners to prac- 
tice it. Because my queens must be clipped, I had 
to And a better way; and because 1 pinched and 
maimed my first queen while clipping her, so that 
she was useless and had to be replaced, I have never 
touched another. How many queens have been in- 
jured by handling no one knows. I like to know 
that mine are not thus injured because absolutely 
untouched. I set a small wire cage over the queen 
on the comb; when she runs up into it (she will 
sooner run up into a small cage than a large one) I 
lift it, pick off two or three bees by the wing and 
put iu for company, carry them into the house, and 
let them loose on a clean window. She can be clip- 
ped here, in motion, better than on the comb; but 
after allowing them to run awhile, guide them near 
each other, and the bees will feed the queen, when 
the work can be easily done. I have since found 
out a more expeditious way. While the queen is 
passing from the cage to the window, let her back or 
wing gently brush a drop of honey on the end of the 
finger, and she will soon stop to clean it otf. I have 
had queens fly after being clipped; but when I cut 
off the large wing on only one side, just deep enough 
to take the tip of the small one in the same clip, she 
never flies again. It wounds her but little, as I give 
a slanting cut, takiDg more of the lace than of the 
fleshy part. Set the cage over her as before, carry 
her to the hive at once, and let her run down among 
the combs, not in at the entrance. If all the mum 
old bee-keepers have known all about this, all these 
years, you are not the only man that ought to have 
a troubled conscience. Mrs. A. L. Godld. 

Ridgeville, Iroquois Co., 111., April 13, 1878. 



How to manage during swarming-time 
with clipped queens, will be considered un- 
der Sw r ARMING. 

HOW QUEENS LAY TWO KINDS OF EGGS. 

That they do lay two kinds of eggs, I 
think few are inclined to dispute, since the 
experiments with the microscope have de- 
cided the matter so clearly, as given under 
Drones. Suppose a young queen goes out 



to meet the drones so late in the fall, or so 
early in the spring, that there are none ; 
what is the consequence? Well, sometimes 
she will never lay at all; but frequently 
she commences to lay when 3 or 4 weeks 
old, and her eggs produce only drones. In 
fact, she can produce no other eggs, having 
never been fertilized. How shall we dis- 
tinguish such queens from fertile ones? 
You can not decide positively concerning 
them, by any means that I know of, until 
their brood is ready to seal up ; then you 
will know by the round, raised caps of the 
brood, like bullets laid on a board, as I ex- 
plained under Drones. You can give a 
pretty good guess, by noticing the way in 
which she lays the eggs ; if they are few and 
scattering, and sometimes, or often, in 
drone-cells, coupled with the fact that she 
did not commence laying until two weeks or 
more old, you would better not send her off 
as a dollar queen, until some of her brood is 
sealed over. A young queen, if properly 
fertilized, never, or very rarely, lays an egg 
in a drone-cell; and when she commences to 
lay, she fills cell after cell in regular order, 
as men hoe a field of corn ; her work also 
has a neat and finished appearance that says 
at once to the practiced eye, "You are all 
right." 

Now, my friends, do not think me contra- 
dictory when I tell you that a young queen 
sometimes commences w r ith all, or nearly 
all, drone-eggs, and, after awhile, lays en- 
tirely worker-eggs as regularly as one might 
wish. I do not know why this is : perhaps 
she has not yet got used to the "machinery,''' 
or does not "remember 1 ' distinctly just how 
her grandmother did it. Once more, my 
friends : you must bear with me when I tell 
you that any queen, the best one you ever 
saw, is liable, at any day of her life, to com- 
mence, on a sudden, laying drone-eggs alto- 
gether, or only in part. I wish you to re- 
member this, that you may be more charita- 
ble toward each other in your dealings. A 
nice laying young queen, taken from a hive, 
and shipped to a distance, may prove to be a 
drone -layer shortly after, or immediately 
after, she is received. Such things are not 
very common, but they do occur. In an 
apiary of 50 or 100 hives I should expect to 
find one drone-layer, on an average, each 
spring. During the summer, perhap*s one 
more will be found. It may be that the 
queen was not fertilized sufficiently, if I 
may use the term, and that the supply of 
spermatozoa gave out while she was in full 
vigor, thus reducing her to the condition of 



QUEENS. 



206 



QUEENi 



a virgin queen. Microscopic examination 
has shown an entire absence of spermatozoa 
in at least one or two instances, where 
queens of this kind were killed and dissect- 
ed. Similar experiments, given by Lang- 
stroth, show that the spermatozoa may be 
chilled beyond recovery, by chilling the 
queen, and yet the queen herself may be re- 
suscitated. I think it likely that hardship 
and being shipped long distances may pro- 
duce the same results. Do not think I am 
going to excuse those who sell queens, and 
let the blame for unprofitable queens slip off 
their shoulders; on the contrary, I think 
they had better make up their minds to ren- 
der a full equivalent for all the money they 
receive. If a queen proves a drone-layer be- 
fore the purchaser can receive any benefit 
from her, I think another should be sent. 
Of course, I can not give a rule for settling 
all such matters, but I would most earnestly 
advise that you all try to do as you would be 
done by, and be each one ready to bear a lit- 
tle more than your share of such losses as 
may come \i\). Try to feel for each other, 
and beware of that great besetting sin of all 
mankind, selfishness. It is certainly one of 
my great besetting sins, if I do not look out. 

Well, queens not only turn suddenly to 
drone-layers, but they sometimes produce 
about an equal number of each kind of eggs. 
In all these cuses, where the queen lays 
drone-eggs when she evidently intended to 
lay worker-eggs, they are in worker-cells; 
also the number of eggs laid, usually rapid- 
ly decreases. The bees, as well as queen, 
evidently begin to think that something is 
wrong ; queen-cells are soon started, and aft- 
er the young queen is hatched she becomes 
fertile, and begins to help her mother. All 
hands evidently think that any kind of a 
queen is better than no queen, hence a queen 
is seldom dragged out of the hive, as a work- 
er-bee is, because she is ailing. 

Very early in the spring, or late in the fall, 
or at any time when forage is not abundant, 
a queen will pass right by drone - cells, tak- 
ing no notice of them. I have often tried to 
get eggs in drone-cells by feeding, and can 
but conclude that the queen knows when an 
egg will produce a drone, and knows just 
what "wires to pull" to have every egg laid 
in a drone-cell produce a drone. I think it 
very likely the workers have something to 
do with this matter, but I have never been 
able to make out by what means they signi- 
fy to the queen that some eggs in drone-cells, 
or even queen - cells, would be desirable. 
There seems to be a constant understanding 



in the hive as to what is going to be done 
next, and consequently there is no clashing. 
I wish, my friends, the human family could 
understand each other as well. In our api- 
ary, there seems to be in strong stocks, a 
kind of understanding that eggs shall be laid 
in drone-cells about the last of March, and 
we have drones, therefore, some time in 
April, ready for the first queens that may, 
by any accident, make their appearance. 
Those who insist that there are only one 
kind of eggs can satisfy themselves easily, 
by cutting out a piece of comb, eggs and all, 
from either a drone or worker cell, and set- 
ting it in the bottom of a cell of the other 
kind. They will get a drone in a worker- 
cell, or a worker in a drone-cell. Again : If 
you give a young laying queen a hive sup- 
plied only with drone -combs, she will rear 
worker - brood in these drone - cells. The 
mouth of the cells will be contracted with 
wax, as mentioned in Honey-comb. 

When they get ready to swarm they build 
shallow queen-cells, and the queen then lays 
a worker-egg in these queen-cells. Although 
I never saw her lay an egg in a queen-cell, 
I am satisfied that she does it, from the way 
in which it is put in. Like the rest of the 
eggs, it is fastened to the center of the bot- 
tom of the cell by one of its ends, and I sup- 
pose, when first deposited, it is covered with 
a sort of glutinous matter that makes it stick 
firmly, where it first touches. I know that 
bees have the skill to remove both eggs and 
larvae, for I have several times known of 
their taking eggs and brood to an old dry 
J comb, when no queen was present in the 
! hive. Occasionally a queen is found that 
1 will never lay at all ; again, queens that laid 
eggs which never hatched into larva?, have 
been several times reported. . One such was 
sent me this past summer. She was a re- 
markably fine and large queen, but, while be- 
ing introduced, she flew away and has not 
come back yet. 

Aug. 16, 1879.— We have to-day killed a 
large, fine - looking queen, because not an 
egg that she has laid in the two weeks she has 
been laying, has hatched into larval state. 
This is the first case of the kind we have 
had, in rearing several thousand queens. 

After having told you thus much of the 
faults and imperfections of queens, I would 
add, for their credit, that when once proper- 
ly installed in a strong colony, they are about 
as safe property as any thing I know of, for 
in the great majority of cases, they live and 
thrive for years. I have never heard of any 
disease among queens, and, while a worker 



QUEENS. 



207 



QUEENS. 



lives only a few months, they often live 3 or 
4 years. One that was imported from Italy 
by Dadant furnished us brood and eggs for 
queen-rearing, for four summers. I then 
sold her for $2.00, and she died in being sent 
less than 50 miles. Slie was very large and 
heavy, and, probably, being so old could not 
cling to the sides of the cage like a younger 
one. I have never heard of queens being 
troubled with any thing but an Italian para- 
site, and these quickly disappeared when 
they were introduced into our own apiaries. 
See Enemies of Bees. 

LOSS OF QUEEN. 

It is a very important matter, to be able to 
know at once, when a queen is lost. During 
the months of May and June, the loss of a 
queen from the hive a single day will make 
quite a marked difference in the honey-crop. 
If we assume the number of eggs a queen 
may lay in a day to be 3000, by taking her 
away a single day we should, in the course 
of events, be just that numberof bees short, 
right during a yield of honey. To put it 
very moderately, a quart of bees might be 
taken out of the hive, by simply caging the 
queen for a single day. Beginners should 
remember this, for their untimely, or, rather, 
inconsiderate tinkering, just before the flow 
of honey comes, often cuts short their in- 
come to a very considerable degree. What- 
ever you do, be very careful yoa do not drop 
the queens off the combs when handling 
them at this time of the year, and do not 
needlessly interrupt the queen in her work, 
by changing the combs about so as to ex- 
pose the brood, or upset their little house- 
hold matters in the hive. With a little prac- 
tice you will be able to detect a queenless 
hive, simply by the way the bees behave 
themselves on the outside. Where they 
stand around on the alighting-board in a 
listless sort of way, with no bees going in 
with pollen, when other colonies are thus en- 
gaged, it is well to open the hive and take a 
look at them. If you find eggs and worker- 
brood, you may be sure a queen is there; but 
if you do not, proceed at once to see if there 
is not a queen of some kind in the hive, that 
does not lay. If you do not find one, pro- 
ceed at once to give them a frame contain- 
ing brood and eggs, and see if they start 
queen-cells. You ought to be able to find 
incipient queen-cells in about 12 hours, if 
the bees have been some little time queen- 
less. As soon as you see these, give them a 
queen if possible. If no queen is to be had, 
they may be allowed to raise one, if the col- 



ony has bees enough. If it has not, they had 
better be united with some other stock. 

A strong hive, discovered to be queenless 
in the months of Oct. or Nov., may be win- 
tered without trouble, and I am not sure but 
that a colony kept without a queen until nat- 
ural pollen can be gathered in the spring is 
just as well off as one that commences rear- 
ing brood by the first of Jan., as they usual- 
ly do. If you have no queen to give them in 
the spring, give them a comb of eggs from 
some other stock, at intervals of a week or 
10 days, until they can rear a queen that will 
be fertilized. If the first queen reared should 
prove a drone-layer, she must be destroyed, 
that they may have an opportunity of rear- 
ing another that will not be over a couple of 
weeks old when drones begin to fly. This, 
of course, takes time and care, so we gener- 
ally prefer to have a laying queen in each 
hive at the approach of winter. 

More hives become queenless from queens 
being lost on their wedding-flight, than from 
all other causes together; but the reasons 
for this have been so fully stated under oth- 
er heads, such as House- apiaries, Apia- 
ries, Nucleus Hives, and the like, that it 
will hardly be necessary to go over the 
ground here. If the hives are 7 feet apart 
from center to center, as in the hexagonal 
apiary, there will be little loss of queens from 
this cause. Where a queen is lost in such a 
way as to leave brood in the hive from which 
to rear another, the colony seldom perishes; 
but when a virgin queen takes her flight, if 
she is lost, no brood remains in the hive, un- 
less it is supplied by the bee-keeper ; hence 
the very great importance of having a few 
eggs in every nucleus hive all the time dur- 
ing Queen-rearing, which see. 

ODOR OF A LAYING QUEEN. 

After bees have been sometime queenless, 
they usually become, if no fertile workers 
make their appearance (see Fertile Work- 
ers), very eager for the presence of a queen; 
and I can in no way describe this eager be- 
havior, if I may so term it, so well as to de- 
scribe another way of testing a colony you 
have reason to suspect is queenless. Take a 
cage or box containing a laying queen, and 
hold either the cage, or simply the cover of 
it, over the bees, or hold it in such a way as 
to let one corner touch the frames. If queen- 
less, the first that catch the scent of the piece 
of wood on which the queen has clustered 
will begin to move their wings in token of 
rejoicing, and soon you will have nearly the 
whole swarm hanging to the cage, or cover. 
When they behave in this manner I have 



QUEENS. 



208 



QUEEN-REARING. 



never had any trouble in letting the queen 
right out at once. Such cases are generally 
where a colony is found without brood in 
the spring. 

There is something very peculiar about 
the scent of a laying queen. After having 
had a queen in my fingers, I have had bees 
follow me and gather about my hand, even 
when I had gone some distance from the 
apiary. By this strange instinct they will 
often hover about the spot where the queen 
has alighted even for an instant, for hours, 
and, sometimes, for a day or two afterward. 
Where clipped queens get down into the 
grass or weeds, or crawl sometimes a consid- 
erable distance from the hive, I have often 
found them, by watching the bees that were 
crawling about, along the path she had tak- 
en. When cages containing queens are be- 
ing carried away, bees will often come and 
alight on the cage, making that peculiar shak- 
ing of the wings, which indicates their joy 
at finding the queen. 

QUEENS 1 STINGS. 

There is something very strange in the 
fact that a queen very rarely uses her sting, 
even under the greatest provocation possi- 
ble, unless it is toward a rival queen. In 
fact, they may be pinched, or pulled limb 
from limb, without even showing any symp- 
toms of protruding the sting at all; but as 
soon as you put them in a cage, or under a 
tumbler with another queen, the fatal sting 
is almost sure to be used at once. There 
seems to be a most wise provision in this; 
for if the queen used her sting at every pro- 
vocation as does the worker, the prosperity 
of the colony would be almost constantly en- 
dangered. It is true, that instances are on 
record where queens have stung the fingers 
of those handling them ; but these cases are 
so very rare it is quite safe to say queens 
never sting. I am inclined to think the cas- 
es mentioned (although, of course, it must 
be only a surmise) were with queens that 
were not fully developed ; for I have often 
seen the dark half-queen and half- worker, 
mentioned some time back, show its 
sting when handled as we usually handle 
queens. It is said, that a queen has been 
known to lay eggs after having lost her 
sting; but as they never lose their stings, so 
far as I know, at least, when they sting rival 
queens, we must consider this as a very un- 
usual occurrence. When you wish to pick 
queens from a comb, you can do it with just 
as much assurance of safety as if you were 
picking up a drone. It is true, the queen 
often bites with her powerful mandibles, 



and she does this so viciously that a novice 
might be almost excusable for letting her 
get away in affright. 

CAUTION IN REGARD TO DECIDING A STOCK 
TO BE QUEENLESS. 

As a rule, we may say that absence of 
brood or eggs is a pretty sure indication of 
queenlessness ; but it should be borne in 
mind that all hives, as a rule, are without 
eggs and brood in the fall and early winter 
months, or, in fact, at any time when there 
is a considerable dearth of pasturage. At 
such seasons, beginners are more apt to 
think their hives are queenless, because the 
queens are much smaller than when they are 
laying profusely. Weak colonies often cease 
laying during the whole of the winter 
months. 

CAUTION ABOUT CLIPPING QUEENS' WINGS. 

Although it would seem, after what has 
been said, that nobody would ever think of 
clipping a queen before she has begun to 
lay, I am sorry to say that several of the A 
B C class have been so thoughtless as to clip 
virgin queens. . Of course, such a queen 
would be about as worthless as if it had been 
her head instead of her wing that was 
clipped off ; for she could never meet the 
drones at all. It has usually been done 
where a queen of [an after-swarm has been 
caught, and it should be remembered that 
such are always virgin queens. 

QUEEN - REARING. It has been 
said that wax and honey are the merchant- 
able products of the apiary, but ever since 
the advent of the Italians there has been a 
constant call for queens, far ahead of the 
supply ; and if we were asked what product 
of the apiary would bring cash quickest and 
surest, we would unhesitatingly say, " Dol- 
lar queens." It may be well to explain here 
that a dollar queen is one that has been 
reared from a pure mother, and has just com- 
menced to lay. She may prove to be purely 
fertilized, and she may not; but the apiarist, 
for this low price, guarantees nothing more 
than that she has been raised from a pure 
mother. The transaction of the sale is 
supposed to be something as if you were 
standing by his side, and he should open a 
hive and say : 

" There is a queen that was reared from 
brood from a pure mother; she has com- 
menced laying, as you see, but I know noth- 
ing of the kind of bees she may produce. 
You can take her just as she is for $1.00, but 
at that price I can be in no way responsible 
further." 



QUEEN-REARLNG. 



209 



QUEEN-REARING. 



As the demand is usually far in advance 
of the supply, the conscientious apiarist can 
fill orders only in their turn, and this has 
been another cause for dissatisfaction, on 
account of the delays that seem unavoidable, 
especially in the spring, when everybody is 
wanting them right away. I do not mean to 
blame those who want them at once, for it is 
my disposition exactly, to want a thing as 
soon as I have paid for it. 

If you can raise good dollar queens, you 
can certainly raise good tested ones, for a 
tested queen is nothing more than one that 
has proved herself prolific and purely fertil- 
ized. The test of purity generally recog- 
nized is, that the workers show plainly the 
three yellow bands that are characteristic of 
the Italians. 

There are ever so many ways of forming 
nuclei for queen-rearing, but, after having 
tried pretty thoroughly almost or quite all of 
them, I shall advise separate hives for each 
nucleus. If you are simply increasing your 
stock, use a new hive for each colony; but if 
you wish to add to your income by rearing 
queens for sale, I would advise a two-comb 
hive for the purpose. These are made much 
like the Simplicities, only that"] they are 3i 
inches wide inside instead of 14i. For light- 
ness, we will make the sides of f stuff. Eor 
reasons to be explained we will have the 
cover shut over the hive like the cover of a 
tool-chest, and loose enough to slip over the 
bottom also, without sticking, for we can 
have no pulling and jerking about bee-hives, 
even though they are " little ones." 

Those who have tried queen-rearing have 
perhaps found it tiresome business to stoop 
so much as is required in looking over so 
many little hives. To remedy this we will 
have them fastened to the grapevine trellises 
as shown in the cut in back of book, except 
that the entrance should be on the opposite 
end from that of the hive below. 

This brings them at a convenient height 
to work easily: we certainly would not 
wish to encourage any one in being lazy, but 
apiarists do sometimes get tired, and find it 
quite a relief to sit down for a moment or 
two, and the hive right below the nucleus, 
we find very convenient. 

In inserting queen-cells, putting in brood, 
etc., we also find the top of the hive quite a 
convenience. These nuclei are shaded by 
the broad leaves of the grapevines, and are 
held from being blown down by the wind by 
a screw put through the upper strip into the 
side of the hive : when a nucleus is to be 
sold, the screw is turned out enough to re- 



lease it, the cover put under the hive, clos- 
ing the entrance, a wire-cloth cover tacked 
over the top, and it is all ready for the ex- 
press office. It may be well to remark here, 
that nothing will insure careful handling like 
leaving the top of the hive so that every one 
that takes hold of the hive can see the bees 
plainly through the wire cloth. You may 
label a box "glass," "handle with care," 
"right side up," and as much more as you 
like, and it will not be half so plain to the 
railroad and express men, as the sight and 
sound of the bees buzzing right under their 
noses. 

When you have your nuclei all fixed, each 
one neatly painted white (see "Paint for 
Hives 1 ') and supplied with a queen-register 
card, you are to set about peopling the little 
boxes. If you commence this work during 
a good yield of honey, you will very likely 
get along finely; but if at a time when the 
bees are disposed to robbing, you may have 
all sorts of trouble. You can have your 
queen-cells raised in these little hives if they 
are well peopled with bees; but as a general 
thing we would prefer having it done by a 
strong colony. 

HOW TO GET GOOD QUEEN-CELLS. 

To rear good, healthy, long-lived queens, 
we want the larvae to have an abundance of 
the milky food prepared by the nurse-bees, 
and we wish them to have it from the time 
they are first hatched from the egg, until 
they are sealed up as a queen - cell. If you 
will examine the minute larvae of different 
hives, you will discover a vast difference in 
the amount of food given to the infant bees. 
With a new swarm, we will find the first lar- 
vae that hatch are fed so profusely that they 
look almost like the inmates of queen-cells, 
because the nurse-bees are far in excess of 
the work that is to be done by them; but aft- 
er the combs are filled with eggs, such is 
not the case. We can bring about this re- 
sult at any time by taking all the brood away 
from any colony, and giving them only one 
comb containing these small larvae, and this 
is just what we want for queen-rearing. 
The secret of being able to send larvae for 
queen - rearing safely by mail, consists in 
sending such as have this excess of food in 
the cells ; for if the weather is not too cool 
they will grow and thrive for two or three 
days, just as well, for aught I know, as if 
they were in the parent hive : when the food 
is all consumed they must starve, and this 
illustrates the necessity of getting them into 
a hive of bees just as soon as they are re- 
ceived. It has been said, that queens reared 



QUEEN-REARING. 



210 



QUEEN-REARING. 



during the time of natural swarming are su- 
perior; but I think, by securing this abund- 
ance of food in the way indicated, we can 
have them equally as good at any season 
when bees are flying freely. True, it is some 
trouble to remove all the brood-combs from 
a strong colony, and we therefore move the 
colony, hive and all, putting a new hive con- 
taining our choice larvae in its stead. This 
plan lias never failed to give us line queen- 
cells, and queens that were prolific and long- 
lived ; and it is so quickly done that a lot of 
cells may be started every few days during 
the season. Unless the new hive looks much 
like the old one, the bees may but few of 
them go into it, especially if the old one is 
set so near at hand that they succeed in find- 
ing it. This is an additional reason for hav- 
ing your hives all just alike. We usually 
place the removed hive at an opposite side 
Of the apiary. 

By cutting comb containing eggs or young 
larva- into long strips, and then destroying 
all the eggs or larvae except those where we 
want cells built, we may get our queen-cells 
in shape so that they are easily cut apart ■ 
and by arranging some extra bars across the 
middle of the frame, we can, without much 
trouble, get queen-cells built with the regu- 
larity of those shown in the cut below. 




HOW TO IIAISE GOOD QUEEN-CELLS. 

To get a frame full of cells like the above, 
we succeed best with a colony having a dash 
of Holy-Land blood. See page 161. 

WHEN TO CUT OUT THE QUEEN-CELLS. 

A queen is hatched in just 16 days from 
the time the egg is laid, as a general rule ; 
therefore we must take measures to have the 
cells cut out before this time. The eggs 
hatch into the minute larvae, in just about 
three days, and, if you have used these, you 
are to cut out your cells on the 12th day after 
you moved the colony. If you use a comb 
containing larvae of all ages, the bees will be 
pretty sure to use some that are 6 days old, 
in which case you may have queens hatching 
by the 10th after the larva? were given them, 
and they may get out a young queen as soon 
as the 9th. It is these queens that are 



hatched on the 9th or 10th day, that we have 
reason to fear may be short-lived ; hence our 
warning to give them nothing for starting 
queen-cells but larvae so small as to be just 
visible to the naked eye. You will get these 
by putting an empty comb between two 
brood - combs, as we have before directed, 
until the eggs laid by the queen have just 
commenced to hatch. A frame of founda- 
tion answers nicely. 

HOW TO CUT OUT THE QUEEN-CELLS. 

Provide yourself with a very thin, narrow- 
bladed pen-knife, and be sure that it is just 
as sharp as you can make it. If you have a 
dull knife, and it is necessary to cut between 
two cells that are very close, you will very 
likely break one or both open, and then the 
bees will be very apt to tear them down. 
Cut them all out but one, and do it nicely. 
If they are not too close together, give con- 
siderable room around the base or part that 
is attached to the comb. 

We will suppose you have secured a fine 
lot of cells, have succeeded in cutting them 
out nicely, and have them all shut up in a 
little box where robber-bees may not be try- 
ing to steal the honey that may have been 
started running in the operation of cutting 
them out. Do not let the robbers discover 
that honey may be pilfered by following you 
around, or you may receive some stinging 
lessons as a punishment for not being neat 
and cleanly in your work. 

The little hives, we will suppose, are se- 
curely fastened on their shelves, and are all 
ready for their occupants. Go to any strong 
colony and gently lift out one of the central 
combs. This you can do by sliding the 
frame on each side a little away from it, or, 
if the combs are crammed with honey, you 
may find it necessary to push a second or a 
third one back a little. You can make room 
to take out the first one quietly, in almost 
any hive, if you manage properly. Now, we 
rather wish to find the queen, if we can by 
not taking too much time, and so we carefully 
look over every comb as we lift it out. 
If you do not find her on the first comb, put 
it in one of the little hives and take another. 
Proceed in this way until you have removed 
all the brood-combs. As soon as you have 
found the queen, you are to put her with the 
comb she is on, in an empty hive. Now you 
can insert a cell in each comb as fast as you 
take them from the hive, and then place the 
comb, cell and all, in your nucleus hive. 0j If 
the comb contains hatching brood, the one 
will be sufficient; but if the brood is partly 
unsealed you had better put another beside 



it, or the brood may be chilled during cool 
nights. 

You will probably make 5 good nuclei out 
of a fair colony, the bees that are in the fields 
will make another good one, and the old 
queen with her one comb still another. 66 If 
you do not find the old queen, divide the 
hive all the same, but do not insert any 
queen-cells until you find her. If you are so 
unlucky as to not find her at all, wait until 
the next morning, and then insert queen- 
cells in all that have started some of their 
own, for it is a sure indication of queenless- 
ness to find a nucleus building queen-cells. 
Mark this, for I shall refer to it again. 



QUEEN-REARING. 211 QUEEN-REARING. 

of the queens hatched by the next day, and 
in ten days more, on an average, they will be 
laying. I took a dollar queen from one of 
these, nuclei just ten 'days ago, inserting 
a queen-cell at the time, and to-day the new 
queen is laying. Now, 100 of these little 
hives would, at this rate, give us 10 laying 
queens per day, and I think that an apiarist 
should consider it fair wages, even if half 
the whole number were lost, in different 
ways ; and one person can very easily take 
care of 100, if he will follow the directions I 
shall give. 

When I first commenced queen-rearing I 
thought it necessary to hunt up the young 
queens every time a cell was found open, or 
every time I looked into their hives, which, 
by the way, was about every day, and some- 
times oftener. If you are keeping bees just 
for the fun of it, it may do to spend a quar- 
ter of an hour looking for a queen just to 
see if she is a nice one; but if you are trying 
to show your friends who worry about the 
time you " fuss with your bees" that there 
are dollars in the business, you need never 
see your queens at all until you wish to send 
them off. After inserting the cells you 
have nothing more to do with them for about 
three days, and then you should provide 
yourself with a fresh lot of cells, and also 
with some pieces of comb containing larvse 
just right for queen-rearing. Take the hives 
in regular order, and do not skip about. If 
you find a cell open at the end, your queen 
is probably all right,* and if there are no lar- 
vae in the hive, insert a piece ; as soon as 
any thing happens to a queen they will start 
queen-cells on this brood, and therefore we 
always look at this piece of brood instead of 
looking for the queen. Should they by any 
possibility rear a queen of their own, it will 
always be from your choice brood. When 
in your examinations you find eggs in the 
cells— your eyes will soon become sharpened 
for these indications of greenbacks— you 
will turn the queen-register to laying, and 
use her the first time you send off queens. 
As we wish to keep up the population of 
these little hives, it may be well to allow her 
to fill up her two combs pretty well before 
taking her out. When she is removed, in- 
sert a cell, and if all goes well you may have 
another queen in the hive the next morning. 
Always keep your queen register set, that it 
may show the state of affairs within, and be 




HOW TO INSERT A QUEEN-CELL. 

The drawing given will probably make it 
all plain, without much explanation. Your 
cells must be fitted in nicely, and pretty se- 
curely, or the bees will tumble them down 
to the bottom of the hives, for they are quite 
inquisitive in regard to the way things are 
done in their homes. I once thought I had 
made quite a discovery when I found that 
cells could be hatched safely by laying them 
just under the quilt on the top of the frames, 
or even at the entrance during very warm 
weather, but I soon found that a much larg- 
er part were torn down than if they were 
nicely inserted in the midst of the brood.* 
Where it can be done, I always insert a cell 
in place of one they have built, and I have 
never found such ones destroyed. 67 A cell 
that has been broken open in cutting it out 
will usually be destroyed, but not always. 

If your cells were cut out at just about the 
proper time, you will very likely find some 



* During- the past summer of 1882 our boys have 
been quite successful by simply placing the cell be- 
tween two frames of brood. It is placed down near 
the center of the brood, in its natural position, and 
then held securely by moving' the comb up so as to 
press it pretty well. This is quickly done, and it 
avoids cutting unsightly holes in our nice frames 
of foundation. 



* If you find the cap hanging as in the cut, you 
may be sure a queen has gnawed her way out ; some- 
times this cap springs back and the novice waits day 
after day, while the queen is running about the 
combs. 



QUEEN BEARING. 



212 



QUEEN REARING. 



sure the bees always have brood in their 
combs, by giving them a fresh piece every 
three or four days. If you are faithful in 
this, you will never know anything about 
fertile workers, those pests of queen rearing. 

CAUTION. 

In selecting brood for queen rearing, be 
sure you have no drone larvae, for the bees, 
by some strange perversion of instinct, will 
very often build queen cells over them, re- 
sulting usually in nothing but a dead drone. 
The poor drone seems unable to stand the 
powerful dose of concentrated food that is 
required to perfect a queen from a worker 
larva, and so dies when he is about half 
grown. Should a queen cell have been start- 
ed over a drone larva, you can always tell 
• it from a good one by its smooth exterior, 
while a genuine cell has a roughened sur- 
face like the drawing we have given. 

If you suspect a cell is not going to hatch, 
do not tear it down, but insert another one 
beside it. If you have two or more cells so 
close together that they cannot be separated, 
insert the whole, and look often to them : 
you can very often find the first one Avhile 
she is biting out, or so soon after she has 
come out as to save the others. We have 
often, by this means, saved all of three that 
were built close together. 

For convenience in inserting brood so 
many times, we use a square " cake-cutter, " 
as it were; this is made of tin, with the 
edges very sharp. Press it in the comb far 
enough to mark it, and then you can cutout 
pieces all of a size. As one piece always 
goes in where another comes out, you can 
keep all unsightly holes in your combs closed 
up, and have no odd bits of comb lying about 
the apiary. 

In concluding the subject of queens and 
queen-rearing, my friends, I will give you 
an article from Gleanings, by one whom I 
regard as one of the most successful queen- 
rearers in America. Friend II. seems to 
have a happy tact for making every thing 
pertaining to the business a success. 

HOW TO HAISE QUEENS FOR MARKET. 

For nuclei I use a hive similar to the Simplicity; 
that is, a plain box, made the same size as the Lang- 
stroth hive, with movable cover and bottom-board, 
and one division-board made the same size as the 
frame, so as to be entirely movable. On each hive I 
have the registering card described in your circular, 
by means of which I can tell at a glance the proba- 
ble condition of the hive, without the necessity of 
opening it. I use the full-sized hive, because it costs 
but little more than the two-frame hive, and can be 
used for full stocks or nuclei, as may be most con- 
venient; and, when not in use in the yard, it is very 
convenient in the honey-house, for storing surplus 



combs. By sliding the division-board back, I have 
immediate control of the combs, and can get at the 
queen very quickly; while in the two-frame hive it 
requires some time and care to get the combs out 
without injury; and if the hive should happen to 
contain cross hybrids, so as to necessitate the use of 
smoke, she is sure to run down on the bottom, where 
it is very difficult to get at her in the narrow hive. 

To stock the nuclei, I take from a full colony a 
comb containing hatching bees and plenty of stores, 
which I place in one side of the hive, with the divi- 
sion-board close to the frame. I also give them 
enough young bees from other combs to make them 
sufficiently strong. When they reqm-ire more room 
I give them an empty comb; and in a short time, 
during the honey season, T can build them up into 
good stocks, if it is desirable to do so. 

I have most of the queen-cells built in full colonies, 
as I generally get the largest number of perfect 
queens in this manner, although some of the finest 
queens sent out by me this year were from cells 
built in strong nuclei. What seems to be required 
is to have the cell-building colony in as nearly a 
normal condition as possible, not necessarily very 
populous. Some bees naturally build more cells 
than others. By forming strong nucleus hives from 
these, and keeping up the normal condition by occa- 
sionally giving them hatching bees from the same 
old stock, we could probably get more cells, with less 
expense, than in any other way. 

To have a colony build queen-cells. I first remove 
the old queen; in 8 days I pick out all the cells that 
have been built, and place in the center of the hive 
a comb containing larvne not over one day old, from 
the queen I breed from. These I obtain by placing 
an empty comb in the center of her brood-nest, 
about four days before it is ueeded. For this pur- 
pose I use light-colored combs. Bees seem to prefer 
to build their queen-cells on the edges of the combs; 
on this account I cut a few slits about one-half inch 
wide in the comb, before placing it in the cell-build- 
iug colony. In about eight days this comb is ready 
to take out and put in the nursery, and be replaced 
by another similar one. I can generally get four or 
five good lots of cells from a hive before the young- 
est bees are too old to raise perfect queens. 

My nurseiy is made according to the description 
in your circular, and is a very great convenience; 
in fact, I could not raise queens, at present prices, 
without it. When a queen is hatched in the nursery 
lean tell at a glance whether she is perfect; while 
if the cell were in a nucleus I would have to spend 
some time in looking for her, and might have to 
open the hive several times before I would find her 
hatched. It is usually 8 or 10 days after a queen is 
hatched before she begins to lay; therefore it is 
quite important to know immediately that she is 
perfect, so as to save this time if she is not. The 
nursery also saves to the bees the time required to 
hatch the cells after they are sealed — say five or six 
days for each cell. 

The time required in introducing is but little if any 
more than is necessary to cut out the cells and place 
them in the different hives; and this season the loss 
has been no greater. 

I examine the combs in the nursery every two or 
three hours, to find the young queens; and before 
leaving it for the night I hunt up what queens are 
likely to hatch before morning, and cut out the cells 
containing them, and put them in cages. Here is 
where the light-colored combs show their advantage ; 



QUEEN-REARING. 



213 



QUEEN-REARING. 



by holding- them up to the light, the queens that are 
nearly developed can be seen to move slightly, and 
are pretty sure to come out in either 6 or 8 hours. 
If they should have the run of the combs an hour or 
two, they would be pretty certain to murder some 
of their sisters. 

I introduce the young- queens to their nucleus 
hives as soon as possible after they are hatched, 
when the honey harvest is good; this usually re- 
quires but a moment. I let them run in at the top 
of the hive, giving them and the bees a good smok- 
ing, and feel quite safe about them. But if the bees 
are not getting much honey, and are inclined to be 
cross, it requires more care. I move the division- 
board back, so as to give a good view of the comb, 
then let the queen run in among the bees, giving 
them all a good smoking, and watching them a few 
moments until they become quiet. If they treat 
her respectfully, she is pretty sure to be safe; but 
if any attack her, I smoke them again. They seldom 
require this the third time. With care, and by tak- 
ing sufficient time (and a good queen is worth it), I 
lose very few, although there are times when the 
utmost care results in failure. There seem to be 
climatic influences, at times, that control the matter, 
and which are beyond my knowledge. For instance, 
during the clover season I lost nearly all of one fine 
batch of queens, while a similar lot, introduced in 
the same manner a few days previous, were well re- 
ceived; and I have had but little trouble since. It 
seems that feeble hives are more inclined to receive 
queens peaceably, and, on that account, I keep my 
nuclei as weak as possible and still have them self- 
sustaining. I also have better success in introduc- 
ing to hives that have been queenless several days, 
and have cells well started. 

I have, this year, abandoned the plan of having the 
hives arranged in straight rows and at regular dis- 
tances, and now have them grouped about various 
small trees. This arrangement is not so pleasing to 
the mechanical eye, but it seems to suit the young 
queens much better than the former arrangement, 
and I lose scarcely any now during their marriage- 
flight. 

For shipping purposes, I use the "Five-cent candy 
cage," having the candy fresh. I find that queens, 
and most of the bees, will live in these small cages 
from 13 to 15 days, if the candy is just right. In 
provisioning the cages I put in more candy than the 
bees would be likely to use, because a greater bulk 
together will retain the moisture longer. 

I use granulated sugar for candy, and prepare it 
as follows: Wet it with a very little hot water, just 
sufficient to dissolve it; boil it until it will grain 
when stirred in a cold dish (it requires but very lit- 
tle boiling), then take it from the fire and stir it un- 
til it becomes slightly cloudy, and pour it into cages 
as fast as possible. If it gets cold before it is all 
poured out, I have to heat it up again with a little 
more water. 

What seems to be necessary, is to dissolve the 
sugar in as little water as possible, and then stir it 
enough so that when cold a slight crust will cover 
the surface, while the interior will be soft and 
creamy; in this condition the water evaporates very 
slowly. It is probable that the loss of so many 



queens this season is more due to the character of 
the candy, than the size of the cage. 

To fill the cages for shipment, I take a l)t of 
them containing enough for the day's orders, and 
remove the slide that closes the openings. I pick 
up all the bees, including the queens, by the wing, 
putting into the first cage the first queen and her 
suite composed of 6 or 8 bees in the prime of life, 
which are easily distinguished by their clean, bright 
appearance. These work the candy better than 
very young bees, and are more likely to stand the 
confinement than old ones. After putting in each 
bee, I close the opening with my thumb, until they 
are all in, when I use the slide for this purpose. I 
then fill the second one in the same manner, and so 
on through the whole lot. E. M. Hayhurst. 

Kansas City, Mo., Aug. 10, 1879. 

HOW TO CAGE THE BEES AND QUEEN. 

Open your hive without smoke if you can ; 
if you cannot, use as little smoke as possible. 
When the bees have become quiet, lift out 
the frames until you find the one containing 
the queen, and stand it in the hive in the 
position shown in the diagram. 




Set the frame so that the queen is on the 
part projecting out of the hive. Open the 
cage just as you see it in the cut on p. 47, and 
hold it in your left hand, while your thumb 
covers the entrance. Now pick the queen 
up by both wings, or by her shoulders, while 
you put her into the cage. Put your thumb 
over the entrance at once, or she will crawl 
out in a twinkling. Now we want none but 
young bees to put with her, so we will look 
on the frame for those that are dipping their 
noses into the unsealed honey. As their 
bodies are bent, we have an excellent oppor- 
tunity to pick them up by the wings, and 
with a little practice you should be able to 
put them in the cage about as fast as you 
would grains of corn. Young bees will nev- 
er sting your thumb, unless they happen to 
be very bad hybrids; but old ones will some- 
times venture to do so, if you happen to 
handle them too roughly. 



14 




life 







THE QUEEN AXI) HER RETINUE. 






R. 



RAFJ2 {lirassicu). This plant is a near 
relative of the turnip, cabbage, mustard, etc. 
All of them yield honey largely, where 
grown in sufficient quantities. As rape is 
the only one of which the seed is utilized for 
purposes other than for increase, it should 
play a prominent part on the honey - farm. 
It would seem, in fact, that it is almost the 
only plant that should stand beside Buck- 
wheat, or rather, perhaps, above it, for the 
honey from the rape is very much superior 
to buckwheat honey. The great drawback 
is the lack of hardiness of the young plants, 
when they first come up. In our locality 
the black flea is almost sure to eat the ten- 
der green leaves when they first make their 
appearance. Our neighbors have several 
times tried considerable fields of it ; but 
though it would come up nicely, this flea 
would take off almost every plant. In other 
localities we have had reports of bountiful 
crops of seed, and honey enough so that the 
bees worked beautifully in the surplus re- 
ceptacles Like buckwheat, it commences 
to blossom when quite small, and continues 
in bloom until the plant has gained its full 
height. As it will bloom in 20 days after 
sowing, it may be sowed almost any time in 
the summer; and it is said to escape the rav- 
ages of the flea best, when sown late. 
We have had it yield honey finely when 
sown the first of August. The ground 
should be very finely pulverized, for the 
seeds are very small. It is sown broadcast, 
three pounds of seed to the acre. There is a 
steady and good demand for the seed, for 
feeding canary birds, as well as for the man- 
ufacture of oil. Bee-keepers should contrive 
to induce seedsmen to have all these seeds 
raised near them, or on their own grounds. 
Dealers in bird-seed shoidd also be furnished 
in the same way, for these things are often 
raised in large quantities, where there are 
few, if any, bees to gather the honey. 
From what I have said on Pollen, you 
will understand that both parties would be 
benefited by the arrangement. 

RASPBERRY. Where this fruit is 
raised largely for the market, it is quite an 



important honey plant; but it would hardly 
be advisable to think Oi raising it for honey 
alone. The bees work on it closely in our 
locality, but we have not enough of it to 
judge of the honey. If bee-keepers and 
growers of small fruits could manage to lo- 
cate near each other, it would probably be 
an advantage to both. Langstroth says of 
the raspberry honey: " In flavor, it is supe- 
rior to that from white clover, while its deli- 
cate comb almost melts in the mouth. 
When it is in blossom, bees hold even white 
clover in light esteem. Its drooping blos- 
soms protect the honey from moisture, and 
they work upon it when the weather is so 
wet they can obtain nothing from the up- 
right blossoms of the white clover." 

In our locality it comes in bloom just aft- 
er fruit blossoms, and just before clover, so 
that large fields of it would be a great acqui- 
sition indeed. The red varieties (especially 
the Cuthbert) are said to furnish most hon- 
ey. We have now (December, 1879) about 
one-fourth of an acre of the best raspberries 
for honey on our honey-farm. 

RATAN. This plant has been several 
times spoken of by our Southern friends, and 
it is probably quite an important honey- 
plant. Some seed has been sent me, but no 
plants have as yet been raised. I will give 
farther reports, as soon as I can. 

ROBBXTCG. Paul says, "The lore of 
money is the root of all evil." I should be 
inclined to state it in this way : The disposi- 
tion to get money without rendering an 
equivalent, is the root of all evil. Well, the 
root ot a great many evils in bee-keeping 
is the disposition of the bees to gain honey 
without rendering any equivalent. Some 
one of our ABC class has said that he found 
bees making visits to over 100 clover-heads, 
before they obtained a load sufficient to car- 
ry to their hives. I think it very likely, that 
during a great part of the season a bee will 
be absent a full hour, or, it may be, during 
unfavorable spells, as much as two hours, in 
obtaining a single load. Is it at all strange 
that a bee, after having labored thus hard 



ROBBING. 



21(5 



ROBBING. 



during the fore part of the day, should, in 
the afternoon, take a notion to see if he 
could not make a living in some easier way? 
Would he be very much worse than many 
types of humanity? Well, as he passes 
around to other hives, he catches the per- 
fume of the clover honey they have gathered 
in a like manner, and, by some sort of an op- 
eration in his little head, he figures out that, 
if he could abstract some of this, unper- 
ceived, and get it safely into his own hive, 
he would be so much the gainer. I presume 
he has no sort of care, whether these other 
folks die of starvation or not. That is no 
concern of his. 

With all of their wonderful instincts, I 
have never been able to gather that the bees 
of one hive ever have any spark of solicitude 
as to the welfare of their neighbors. If, by 
loss of a queen, the population of any hive 
becomes weak, and the bees too old to de- 
fend their stores, the very moment the fact 
is discovered by other swarms, they rush in 
and knock down the sentinels, with the most 
perfect indifference, plunder the ruined home 
of its last bit of provision, and then rejoice 
in their own home, it may be but a yard 
away, while their defrauded neighbors are 
so weak from starvation as to have fallen to 
the bottom of the hives, being only just able 
to feebly attempt to crawl out at the en- 
trance. Had it been some of their own 
flock, the case would have been very differ- 
ent indeed ; for the first bee of a starving col- 
ony will carry food around to his comrades, 
as soon as he has imbibed enough of the food 
furnished to have the strength to stagger to 
them. 

Well, suppose the bee mentioned above, in 
prowling around in the afternoon or some 
other time, should find a colony so weak, or 
so careless, that lie could slip in unobserved, 
and get a. load from some of the unsealed 
cells, and get out again. After he has passed 
the sentinels outside he will usually run but 
little danger from those inside, for they seem 
to take it for granted that every bee inside 
is one of their number. There is danger, 
though; for should he betray too great haste 
in repairing to the combs of honey, they will 
often suspect something ; so he assumes an 
indifference he is far from feeling, and loi- 
ters about very much as if he were at home, 
and finally, with a very well-assumed air of 
one who thinks he will take a lunch, lie goes 
to the cells, and commences to fill up. Very 
often, when he gets pretty well "podded out" 
with his load, some bee approaches, appar- 
ently to see if all is right. When the robber 



once gets his head into a cell, however, he 
seems to have lost all sense or reason; and if 
he is discovered at this stage to be a stranger 
and a thief, he is often pounced upon and 
stung with very little ceremony. How do 
they know a stranger from one of their own 
number, where there are so many? It is 
said, they know by the sense of smell; this 
may be the principal means, perhaps, but I 
think they depend greatly on the actions and 
behavior of a bee, much as we do when judg- 
ing of the responsibility of a man who asks 
to be trusted. We can give a very good guess, 
simply by his air or manner, or even by the 
sort of letter he writes. If a robber is sus- 
pected, and a bee approaches for the purpose 
of satisfying himself, it is a very critical mo- 
ment, and one becomes intensely interested 
in watching the performance. The robber 
will stand his ground, if he is an old hand, 
and permit himself to be looked over with a 
wonderful indifference; but one who has 
watched such scenes closely will detect a 
certain uneasiness, and a disposition to move 
slowly toward the entrance, that he may be 
' the better able to get out quickly, when he 
; discovers things to be too hot for him inside. 
! If the bee who first suspects him concludes 
he is an interloper, he begins to bite him, 
and grab hold of his wings to hold on until 
others can come to help. The thief has now 
\ two chances to escape, and sometimes he 
i seems meditating which to adopt ; one is to 
j brave it out until they shall perhaps let him 
alone, and then slip out unobserved. The 
j other is to break away, and trust to his heels 
| and wings. The latter plan is the one gen- 
J erally adopted, unless he is a very old and 
i "hardened sinner" in the business. One 
who has been many times in such scrapes 
will usually get away, by the latter plan, by 
an adroit series of twists, turns, and tum- 
bles, even though three or four bees have 
hold of him at once. Some of these fellows, 
by a sudden and unexpected dash, will liber- 
ate themselves in a manner that is also won- 
derful, and then, as if to show their audaci- 
ty, will wheel about and come back close to 
the noses of their retainers of a minute be- 
fore. 

But in case the bee gets his load, and 
makes his way out unobserved, he gets home 
very quickly, you may be sure, and, under 
the influence of this new passion for easily 
replenishing his hive with the coveted 
sweets, he rushes out with a vehemence nev- 
er known under any other circumstances. 
Back he goes and repeats the operation, with 
several of his comrades at his heels. Does 



BOBBING. 



217 



BOBBING. 



he tell them where to go ? I wish to digress 
enough here to say, that I do not believe in 
a so-called language among bees, or animals 
in general, further than certain simple 
sounds which they utter, and which we may 
learn to interpret almost if not quite as well 
as they do. When a bee comes into the hive 
in such unusual haste, podded out with his 
load in a way also rather unusual where it is 
obtained from ordinary stores, his comrades 
at once notice it, and, either from memory or 
instinct, they are suddenly seized with the 
same kind of passion and excitement. Those 
who have had experience at the gambling- 
table, or in wild speculations of other kinds, 
can understand the fierce and reckless spirit 
that stirs these little fellows. Patent hives 
illustrate the matter very well. A man who 
afterward became editor of a bee - journal 
once held up before my untutored eyes a 
right to make a patent hive, saying : 

"Mr. Boot, I get $5.00 for these rights, and 
they do not cost me more than the paper 
they are printed on— less than half a cent 
apiece." 

The idea that $5.00 bills could be picked 
up in that way, compared with the slow way 
I was in the habit of earning them, so im- 
pressed itself on my mind that I could hard- 
ly sleep nights ; but after I had taken that 
amount from several of my friends and 
neighbors for the "right," I concluded that 
money without a clear conscience is not just 
the thing after all. Can we blame the poor 
bees for being so much human? Well, the 
bees, when they see a comrade return in the 
way mentioned, seem to know, without any 
verbal explanation, that the plunder is sto- 
len. Anxious to have "a finger in the pie," 
they tumble out of the hive, and look about, 
and perhaps listen, too, to find where the 
spoil is to be had. If they have, at any for- 
mer time, been robbing any particular hive, 
they will repair at once to that ; but if it is 
found well guarded, those used to the busi- 
ness will proceed to examine every hive in 
the apiary. As an illustration of the way in 
which they communicate, or, rather, observe 
the movements of each other, see account of 
bees getting into the honey-house, given in 

POLLEN. 

Of course, they have particular notes, as 
of joy, sorrow, anger, despair, etc., which are 
produced by the wings, usually when on the 
wing, but I am quite sure they are unable to 
communicate to each other more than a sin- 
gle idea. In other words, they have no fac- 
ulty of telling their fellows that a lot of hon- 
ey is to be had in a feeder at the entrance, 



and that it would better be brought in quick- 
ly, or other bees may find it. A bee goes 
out in the spring, and by smelling around, 
the buds, discovers honey and pollen ; when 
he comes into the hive, the others see it and 
start out, and hunt it up in a similar way. 
For further information on this subject, see 
Swarming. 

If you will turn back and read Anger of 
Bees, you will get a very good idea of the 
causes that start bees to robbing. Bead, al- 
so, Bee-hunting, Feeding, etc. As a gen- 
eral thing, bees will never rob so long as 
plenty of honey is to be had in the fields. 
During a bountiful flow I have tried in vain 
to get bees to take any notice of honey left 
around the apiary. At such times we can 
use the extractor right in the open air, close 
to the sides of the hives, if need be. On one 
occasion I remember leaving a comb of un- 
sealed honey on the top of a hive, from morn- 
ing until noon, and not a bee had touched 
it. It seems they preferred to go to the clo- 
ver-fields, in the regular way, rather than to 
take several pounds from the top of a neigh- 
boring hive. I can readily suppose that they 
did not have to visit anything like a hundred 
blossoms at this time, and perhaps they se- 
cured a load in going to not more than a 
half - dozen. Such a state of affairs is not 
very usual in our locality. We have very 
few days during the season, when it would 
be safe to use the extractor for a whole day 
in the open air ; the bees will generally learn 
to follow the freshly uncapped combs about, 
and that it is easier than going to the fields. 
The first indication of robbing which you 
will have, will probably be the cool and 
wicked way of stinging, that I have de- 
scribed in Anger or Bees. 

After the season begins to fail, you may 
expect that every colony in your apiary will 
be tried. As a rule, any fair colony will 
have sentinels posted to guard the entrance, 
as soon as there is a need of any such pre- 
cautions. The bee that presumes to think 
he may enter for plunder will be led off by 
" the ear," if I may so express it, and this 
will be repeated until he learns that there is 
no chance for speculation at that house. At 
the close of the honey harvest we should be 
sure that there are no feeble hives that may 
be overpowered, for one such may start the 
fashion of robbing, and make it a much 
harder matter to control this propensity. 
An apiary, like a community, may get so de- 
moralized that thieving becomes a univer- 
sal mania. "A stitch in time will save" a 
great many more than nine, in this case, Be 



ROBBING. 



218 



ROBBING. 



sure that each colony has the entrance con- 
tracted, and, in fact, the space occupied by 
the bees also, in proportion to their num- 
bers. Give them only so many combs as 
they can cover, if you wish them to defend 
them properly from either moths or robbers. 
A colony without either queen or brood is 
not apt to right for their stores very vigor- 
ously, so it will be well to see that they have 
either one or both, should there be an attack 
made on them. It is hardly necessary to re- 
peat what has been said about Italians be- 
ing better to defend their stores than the 
common bees. A dozen Italians will often 
defend a hive better than a whole swarm of 
black bees. 

COLONIES THAT WILL MAKE NO DEFENSE. 

Although this is contrary to the rule when 
the queen and number of bees are all right, 
yet such cases do sometimes come up. I 
have found that colonies which have been 
wintered indoors are most liable to get into 
that peculiar state where they will allow 
bees from other colonies to come in and help 
themselves without molestation, yet it is not 
always the case. When they can not be 
stirred up so as to show a particle of spunk 
or resentment, the temptation is sometimes 
very strong to say, "It is good enough for 
them; they ought to starve." This might 
be gratifying to one's feelings for the time, 
but, on the whole, it would not pay. I have 
cured them of it in various ways; some- 
times by giving them some good fighting 
bees from another hive, and sometimes they 
got over it themselves after being shut up a 
while. I have tried scenting the robbers 
with some strong odor, like camphor or pep- 
permint. Do this just at night, and, by the 
next morning, the bees from each colony 
have an odor so distinct that the sentinels 
have no trouble in telling their own bees 
from the others. This has seemed to an- 
swer ; but as they might have been all right 
anyway, I am not quite certain that chang- 
ing the scent was the cause of the cure. 
Contracting the entrance and closing all 
cracks and crevices are always very import- 
ant in stopping robbers. 

HOW TO KNOW ROBBER-BEES. 

It sometimes puzzles beginners exceed- 
ingly, to know whether the bees that come 
out are robbers, or the ordinary inmates 
of the hive. 

A robber-bee, when he approaches a hive, 
has a sly, guilty look, and flies with his legs 
spread in rather an unusual way, as if he 
wanted to be ready to use his heels as well 
as wings, if required. He will move cau- 



tiously up to the entrance, and quickly dodge 
back, as soon as he sees a bee coming toward 
him. If he is promptly grabbed for, as soon 
as he attempts to go in, you need have but 
little fear. If a bee goes in and you can not 
well tell whether he was a robber or not, you 
must keep a close watch on the bees that 
come out. This is a very sure way of telling 
when robbers have got a start, even at its 
first commencement. A bee, in going to the 
fields, comes out leisurely, and takes wing 
with but little trouble, because he has no 
load. His body is also slim, for he has no 
honey with him. A bee that has stolen a 
load is generally very plump and full, and, as 
he comes out, he has a hurried and guilty 
look; besides, he is almost always wiping his 
mouth, like a man who has just come out of 
a beer-shop. Most of all, he finds it a little 
difficult to take wing, as bees ordinarily do, 
because of the weight. In Bee-hunting I 
told you how a bee, laden with thick undilut- 
ed honey, would stagger several times under 
his load before he could take wing for his 
final trip home. Well, the bee, when he 
comes out of the hive with the honey he has 
very likely just uncapped, feels instinctively 
that he will be quite apt to tumble unless he 
can take wing from some elevated position, 
and therefore he crawls up the side of the 
hive before he launches out. When he first 
takes wing he falls a little by the weight of 
his load, before he has his wings fully under 
control, and therefore, instead of starting out 
as a bee ordinarily does, he takes a down- 
ward curve, coming quite near the ground 
before he rises safely and surely. AVith a 
little practice you can tell a robber at a 
glance, by his way of coming out of the hive, 
particularly by that fashion of running up 
the side of the hive before taking wing, in 
the way I have mentioned. 

HOW TO TELL WHERE THE ROBBERS BE- 
LONG. 

If you are a bee-hunter you will probably 
line them to their hive without any trouble; 
but if you are not, you can easily find from 
which hive they come, by sprinkling them 
with flour, as they come out of the hive being 
robbed. Now watch the other hives, and see 
where you find the floured bees going in. I 
can generally tell in a very few moments, by 
the excited actions of the robbers, already 
mentioned. 

nOW TO STOP ROBBERS. 

It depends a great deal on what particular 
stage of proceedings they have reached. If 
they are fighting briskly, and stinging one 
occasionally, they will usually take care of 



BOBBING. 



219 



BOBBING. 



themselves, if there are plenty of bees in- 
side, and their entrance is contracted. I 
have known the robbers to get up so early 
on a cool morning that the regular inmates 
were not stirring; and before they were 
roused, and could put a stop to it, the rob- 
bers had quite a lively "trade" started. 
This is a bad fashion for an apiary to learn, 
but it will usually cure itself, if the colonies 
are all strong. If the bees are going in and 
out very rapidly, and running over the "sen- 
tinels in a way indicating that they are over- 
powered, you must shut up the hive at once. 
Now be sure you shut it up so it will stay. 68 
Putting blocks before the entrance is of but 
little use, for the united strength of the rob- 
bers will move quite a heavy weight. Slid- 
ing the hive back, as we do the Simplicity, 
is about the safest way which I know, of 
closing the entrance just as you want it, 
and having it stay. Now be sure you re- 
member the caution I am going to give you 
in regard to this. Should the hive be stand- 
ing in the sun, during a very hot day, and 
be full of bees, they would be very likely to 
smother, without a good deal of air. 

If there are not many of them, there 
will be no danger of suffocation. It is 
the bees gorged with honey that are most 
apt to suffocate, for they are much like an 
individual who has eaten too large a dinner, 
and they can not stand close confinement. 
"When near suffocation they will disgorge 
the honey, and the quantity is often sufficient 
to wet the whole mass almost as thoroughly 
as if they had been dipped in honey. The 
heat given off by the damp crowd is often so 
great as to melt down the combs into a sticky 
mass, and, when touched by the hand, it oft- 
en feels almost scalding hot. The bees soon 
die in this condition, for their breathing- 
pores are closed; and unless they can be 
speedily licked off by other bees, or washed, 
they will be "no good." If they are found 
in this condition, with life enough to move, 
they may be saved by giving them to clean 
bees to lick off; but they should be confined 
so that they can not readily crawl out of the 
hive in the dirt ; they will always do this if 
they can, for they seem to consider them- 
selves of no use, and, like any ailing bee, try 
to get off out of the way of those that are 
healthy and well. I have often saved almost 
every one by dipping a teacupful, or even a 
pint, with a spoon, and placing them right 
over the frames of a strong colony. If you 
do not give each hive too many at once, they 
will soon clean them off as bright as them- 
selves. Letting the outside robbers, get at 



the mass will do, but it may result in more 
trouble, unless you are master of your busi- 
ness. One of our feminine friends reported, 
a short time ago, saving such a colony by 
washing the bees in warm water, and then 
drying them in the sun, in a box covered 
with wire cloth. 

There are several ways of preventing bees 
from smothering, when the hive is closed, 
and a very common one is to give them air, 
by means of an opening closed with wire 
cloth. Unless this is quite large they will 
often pack so densely over it as. to exclude 
every particle of air, and thus defeat its pur- 
pose. If an upper story can be put on, and 
this covered with wire cloth, it will do very 
well; but even then the robbers inside make 
such a fuss as to call the robbers outside to 
them, and keep up a disturbance in the api- 
ary all day. But a still worse objection is, 
that the robbers will sometimes make an ar- 
rangement with those inside, by which they 
will pass the honey out, and thus clean out 
the hive, in time, as effectually as if they 
were allowed admittance. Our neighbor 
Shaw used a double wire cloth, with a half 
inch space between the sheets, for his small 
nucleus hives, just to prevent this kind of 
sharp practicing. I have several times seen 
bees pass honey through the wire cloth in 
this way, but have always stopped the 
fun, before the insiders had passed it all out. 
A correspondent in the Jan. Gleanings for 
1879, gives an instance where the whole of 
the honey was handed out to the robbers, 
leaving the insiders so destitute that they 
actually starved to death, the whole of them. 
These fellows, it seems, were a little too 
sharp, and in their greed for ill gotten-gains 
rather overstepped themselves. 

"Well, if we can not give them ventilation 
through wire cloth, what shall we do? I 
would let the robbers out, without letting 
any of the outsiders in ; I generally do this 
by brushing away, with a little bunch of as- 
paragus tops, all the bees which are around 
the entrance, and then keeping them away 
until all get out that wish to. You can then 
close the hive with very little danger. If 
the colony is a large one (it is very seldom a 
large colony is caught being robbed), you 
would better shade the hive, to be on the safe 
side. It will also be a good idea to set on an 
upper story, and let them go up into that. 
If you have got the robbers all out, it will 
often do to give them their liberty the next 
morning; but if they will not defend them- 
selves then, I would shut them up. and let 
them remain 3 days, By this time, all the 



ROBBING. 



520 



ROBBING. 



bees tln.t remained in the hive, or a large part 
of them, even if they are robbers, will adhere 
to the stand as if it had always been their 
own. I hardly know why this is for a bee 
remembers things that happened several 
weeks before. Perhaps tiiey get interested 
in the ways of their new home, and conclude 
to cast their lots there. I know that bees 
remember more than 3 days, because I once 
carried a stock away to a swamp and kept | 
them there about a month. When I brought 
them back I placed them on a new stand, 
and jostled them a little in opening the en- 
trance. At this they sallied out in quite a j 
body ; but when they tried to return to their 
hive, they all went directly to their old stand. 
Bees have been known to do the same, after 
being in a bee-house over winter. 

After a colony has been confined a day or 
two, because they would not repel robbers, I 
would let them out just about sundown, and 
watch them closely. To be on the safe side, 
you would better get up next morning be- 
fore they begin to fly, and see if they are all 
right. 

It has been often recommended, that 
the combs be broken and the honey set 
running in the robbers' hive, that they may 
be induced to stay at home ; this will some- 
times check them ; but as these colonies are 
almost always extra spry and active, they 
will have things fixed up in a trice, and be 
out at their old trade again. In trying to 
people our house-apiary in the fall, when it 
was first built, I had a great deal of trouble 
with one certain colony. In fact, if any rob- 
bing was going on anywhere, it was sure to 
be these hybrids who were at the bottom of 
the mischief. After I had tried every plan I 
had heard recommended, and still these fel- 
lows would persist in pushing into every 
new colony I started, the idea occurred to 
me that, on the principle that it takes a rogue 
to catch a rogue, it would be well to try to 
see how they would repel robbers. I simply 
took the greater part of the combs from the 
robbers, bees and all, and carried them into 
the house apiary, and put them in place of 
the colony which they had been robbing. 
The effect was instantaneous. Every laden 
robber-bee that came home with his load, on 
finding the queen and brood gone, at once 
showed the utmost consternation, and the 
passion for robbing was instantly changed to 
grief and moaning for the lost home. The 
weak colony which they had been robbing, 
and which had only a queen-cell, was placed 
with them, and they soon took up with it, 
and went to work. The robbers newly dom- 



iciled in the house apiary, repelled all invad- 
ers with such energy and determination that 
the rest seemed to abandon the idea which 
they, doubtless, had previously formed; viz., 
that the house-apiary was a monster hive but 
ill garrisoned, and I had but little trouble 
afterward. Before I swapped them, as I 
have mentioned, I had serious thoughts of 
destroying the queen, simply because they 

| were such pests ; but the year afterward, 
this colony gave me in the house apiary, over 
100 lbs. of comb honey. 
The practice of changing colonies is not 

i always a very safe one, on several accounts, 
although an experienced or a careful hand 
will often make it serve an excellent pur- 
pose. Sometimes the queen of the weaker 
colony may be attacked and destroyed; and, 

! again, bees from other hives may strike in, 
and both being demoralized by the unexpect- 
ed transition, and unfitted to repel intruders, 

! robbing may be started on a much larger 
scale than before. Instead of exchanging 
hives and all, I think by far the better way 
is to leave the hives on their old stand, and 
simply exchange the greater part of the 
combs, with the bees adhering. With the 
fingers between each two combs, with both 
hands we can raise four combs with all the 
adhering bees, and carry them all together. 
If done in this way, enough of the original 
inmates will be left in the strong hive to pro- 
tect it, and enough will also be carried to the 
weaker hive to make it perfectly safe. The 
queen of the stronger hive will be in no dan- 
ger, but the queen of the weaker one may 
have to be caged, although I have seldom 
found this necessary. 

WIIAT HAPPENS IF TvODBIXG IS NOT STOP- 
PED. 

Well, when the work is under real head- 
way, the honey of a strong colony will disap- 
pear in from 2 to 12 hours ; the bees will then 
starve in the hive, or go home with the pil- 
lagers, or scatter about and die. 69 This is not 
all : when the passion is fully aroused, they 
will not hesitate to attack the strongest 
stocks, and you will find your bees stung to 
death in heaps, before the entrances. This 
may, after a spell, put a stop to it, but I have 
seen them push ahead until every hive in the 
apiary was in an uproar, and it seemed as if 
every bee had gone crazy, sure. At such 
times, the robbers will attack passers-by in 
the streets, and even venture an attack on 
cats, dogs, aye, and hens and turkeys too. 
Like the American Indians when infuriated 
at the sight of blood, every bee seems to 
have a demoniacal delight \n selling his life, 



ROBBING. 



221 



ROBBING. 



by inflicting all the torments he possibly can, 
and feels sad because he cannot do any more 
mischief. 

The account below, taken from page 224 of 
Gleanings for 1877, illustrates very vividly 
what I have tried to describe. 

I send you a paper, the Valley Herald, published at 
our county seat, which has a little article on "Bees 
on a Rampage." I would be glad to hear your views 
on the subject. What caused those bees to act so, 
etc.? John W. Hoodenpyle. 

Looney's Creek, Tenn., July 10, 18T7. 

BEES ON A RAMPAGE. 

Mr. ElishaTate, who lives some fifteen miles from 
this place on the head of Battle Creek, met with 
quite a singular misfortune on the 19th inst. He 
has, or did have at that time, about twenty hives of 
bees, and on that day, while all were away from the 
house except a daughter and the baby, the bees be- 
came mad from some cause or other, left the hives in 
large swarms and commenced to sting every living 
thing on the place. They attacked the daughter, 
who fled from the house, leaving the babe on the 
bed. A fine jack was stung to death in the stable; 
all the chickens were killed, and a sheep, that was 
around the house, was stung so badly on the nose 
that that organ swelled to huge dimensions, causing 
death by suffocation. The cries of the daughter 
brought Mr. Tate to the house, and he proceeded to 
rescue his babe, which he found literally covered 
with bees; and we understand that it was with great 
difficulty that its life was saved. Mr. T. attempted 
to destroy the bees at night by piling fodder on the 
hives and setting fire to it, but it only served to 
again arouse them, and they attacked the family 
and compelled them to abandon their house and go 
to a neighbor's. 

No one can account for the strange occurrence. 
Some think that a snake must have visited the 
hives, as it is known that bees have the greatest an- 
tipathy toward snakes. 

In all probability, the account is consider- 
ably exaggerated, as such things usually are 
before they get into the papers, but it affords 
an excellent lesson, nevertheless, on the re- 
sults of letting bees get into a habit of rob- 
bing each other, or of finding honey scattered 
about the premises. I tried, in Anger of 
Bees, to illustrate it, but the above does it 
still better. The worst season seems to be 
after basswood is over, and the bees seem to 
get especially crazy, if they even get a smell 
of this aromatic honey left carelessly about 
the hives. One who has never seen such a 
state of affairs can have but little idea of 
the furious way in which they sting every 
thing and everybody. The remedy is to get 
a kettle of coals and put in enough chips or 
sawdust to make a "big smoke;" carry this 
out among the hives and proceed to close 
every hive that shows any symptoms of be- 
ing robbed. Shut up every bit of honey 
where not a bee can get at it and do your 
work well; for at such times they will wedge 



into and get through cracks that would 
make one think inch boards were hardly pro- 
tection enough. Just before dark, let all the 
robbers go home, and be up betimes next 
morning to see that all entrances are close 
and small, and that all the hives are bee- 
tight. An experienced hand will restore 
peace and quietness in a very short time, in 
such a demoralized apiary. Black bees are 
much worse than Italians, for the latter will 
usually hold their stores against any number 
of assailants; good, strong, well-made hives, 
filled with Italians, with plenty of brood in 
each, will be in little danger of any such 
"raids," although we have seen the wounded 
and slain piled up in heaps, before robbers 
would desist and give up trying to force an 
entrance. 

The love of honey, my friends, is by far 
.more potent than "snakes" in demoralizing 
an apiary. I do not think bees have any par- 
ticular enmity to them. 70 

There is one more point : If in uncapping 
drone-brood, or in cutting out brood to rear 
queens, you leave the cappings or bits of 
comb scattered about, the bees will get a 
taste of the milky fluid and juices of the 
brood, and it seems to craze them worse than 
honey even, if that is possible. Below is a 
letter illustrating it. 

CROSS BEES. 

I had some of the crossest bees this summer that 
were ever heard of. They would fight the top of a 
stovepipe that runs up through a shed roof; there 
would be 50 or 100 bees at once, just whacking 
against that pipe, and very many fell into it, and 
burned to death. They would dive into my smoke- 
pan, and burn up in that, and sting folks along the 
road. What the cause was I could not imagine, but 
at last I happened to think. I had been destroying 
drone-brood, and when it was in a milky state I 
could not shake it out of the combs; the bees would 
eat it and it just made them crazy and ugly. Well, 
I always want to be sure about any thing, so I left it 
off for awhile and they became peaceable again. On 
again giving them access to the milky brood, the 
same result followed. I suppose you will laugh, but 
I am well satisfied that this and this, only, was the 
cause of the fierceness of the bees. D. Gardner. 

Carson City, Mich., Nov. 9, 1877. 

PREVENTION OF ROBBING. 

Beginners are very apt to say that the bees 
must rob some — that there is no such thing 
as preventing it absolutely. They say honey 
will get daubed about on the door-knobs, on 
the posts, and on the ground, and that it can 
not be helped ; that the bees will rob after 
the honey - yield has ceased, for they will 
crowd into the hives when they are opened 
to cut out queen-cells, etc. Is this so, my 
friends V To be sure, it is not. You can 
have your honey - house as clean as your 



ROBBING. 



ROBBING. 



kitchen, and you can have every particle of 
honey cleaned up. You can have a wash- 
basin and cloth, and, just the moment a drop 
falls, you can, if you have a mind to, get 
right down on your knees and clean it up. 
You can not afford to take so much time? I 
verily believe it will take less time to have 
everything neat, and always in place, than it 
will to have such scenes of disorder. I could 
sit down and cry, many times, if I thought 
it would do any good, to see young people 
defeat themselves, and make themselves un- 
happy too, by their heedless, careless way of 
doing things. Is it because they have not 
been trained differently? Perhaps so, and 
perhaps experience is the best teacher. Ex- 
perience is a very slow teacher, and I would 
like to stir you all up, and have you get along 
faster in habits of neatness, for I know you 
all admire a neat apiary nearly if not quite 
as much as I do. 

A GREAT DISCO VEIIY. 

I have often, when beset by robbers dur- 
ing some experiment I wanted to make in 
the fall of the year, longed for some place- 
where I could carry a single hive, where it 
would be entirely free from bees of other 
hives. I first thought of soma spot in the 
country, where there were no bees within a 
couple of miles; but as such a spot would be 
difficult to find here, I thought of a wire- 
cloth house; but then, you know, the bees 
of my one hive would fly against the wires, 
and so that would not be free from difficul- 
ties either. I have before mentioned my 
troubles in trying to people the house-apiary, 
in the fall. Queens were already hatched in 
the lamp nursery, and, unless the colonies 
were divided at once, so as to make use of 
them, all would be lost. The surplus combs 
for making these late swarms were in the 
upper stories, and the robbers knew it; for 
no sooner was a cap raised than they were on 
hand; and before I could get the brood-combs 
to go with them (I found that the bees would 
not adhere even to their own combs, unless 
some of them contained unsealed brood), a 
smart traffic would be under way. It came 
night, and my hives and queens were in all 
sorts of bad shapes. I was glad to have it 
come night, I assure you, for I longed for 
the time when the robbers would be com- 
pelled, by the gathering darkness, to go 
home. I presume many of you have had 
cause to repent trying to work with bees 
when it began to grow dark, but I got the 
idea into my head that, with some good 
lamps with nice shades on them, I could do 
my work in the evening. I went at once and 



got a lamp, and walked around the apiary 
viewing the inmates of the different hives 
that were clustered out at the entrances, 
humming merrily, I presume in remem- 
brance of the rich loads they had but an hour 
before snatched from me. Scarcely a bee 
took wing, and I then ventured to open a 
hive. AVith the lamp on one of the posts of 
the trellis, I found I could handle the bees 
almost as well as in daylight, and. to my in- 
tense relief, not a bee would leave his hive, 
no matter how many combs were held tempt- 
ingly under their very noses. I went to 
work, divided my hives, caught the queens, 
and even handled vicious hybrids, with less 
stings than I could possibly have got along 
with in the daytime. As I passed again and 
again the hives of the robbers who were clus- 
tered out viewing proceedings, I could hard- 
ly resist the temptation to place my thumb 
at the side of my nose, to let them know how 
much I enjoyed having completely outwitted 
them. The last hive in the house-apiary was 
filled, unsealed brood and a queen-cell given 
to all, and all were fixed so that they could 
repel robbers by morning, without trouble. 
Of course, I had a good smoker, and this did 
much toward preventing them from taking 
wing. If the lamps were placed very near 
the bees, occasionally a bee would buzz 
against the light; but when placed off at a 
distance of 6 or 8 feet, they rarely approached 
it. I have extracted honey late in the fall 
by moonlight, when it would have been im- 
possible to do it in the daytime, on account 
of the robbers. You will probably find the 
pure Italians much more easy to handle by 
lamplight than blacks or hybrids. 

There is a kind of pillaging called borrow- 
ing, where the bees from one hive will go 
quietly into another, and carry away its 
stores as fast as gathered ; but this usually 
happens where the robbed stock is queenless, 
or has an unfertile queen. As soon as they 
have eggs and brood, they begin to realize 
what the end of such work will be. This 
state of affairs seldom goes on a great while. 
It either results in downright robbing, or the 
bees themselves put a stop to it. 

Caution to Beginners : — The first year I 
kept bees I was in constant fear that they 
would get to robbing, as I had read so much 
about it in the books. One afternoon in 
May I saw a large number of bees passing 
rapidly out and in, at a particular hive, and 
the more I examined them the more I was 
persuaded that they were being robbed. I 
contracted the entrance, but it seemed to 
make little difference. I finally closed it al- 



ROBBING. 



228 



BOBBING. 



most entirely, compelling the bees to squeeze 
out and in, in a way that must have been 
quite uncomfortable, at least. After awhile 
they calmed down, and we had only the or- 
dinary number of bees going out and in. 
" There," thought I, " if I had not read the 
books and known how, I might have lost my 
bees," and I presume I felt very wise if I 
did not look so. On turning my head, behold, 
the robbers were at another colony, and they 
had to be put through the same programme; 
then another, and another ; and I concluded 
a host of robbers had come from somewhere, 
and made a raid on my apiary, and that, had 
I not been on hand, the whole of them would 
have been ruined. I had got very nervous 
and fidgetty, and, when I found the whole 
performance repeated the next day, I began 
to think bee culture a very trying pursuit. 
Well, in due course of time I figured out 
that there was no robbing at all, but that it 
was just the young bees taking their after- 
noon playspell. Since then I do not know 
how many of the ABC class have gone 
through the same, or a similar experience, 
and it is but a few days since I saw our min- 
ister and his wife out by a hive, closing it up, 
to stop the robbers that were making a raid 
on it. On my suggesting that they were 
mistaken, they replied, " Why, the air was 
full of them, and we could see them circling 
about away up in the air," proving conclu- 
sively to me that it was the young bees play- 
ing, as I have said before. The directions I 
have given for distinguishing robbing - bees 
from the ordinary inmates of the hive, will 
enable you to tell whether it is playing or 
robbing ; but as the books had not described 
the afternoon playspell that young bees al- 
ways take in suitable weather, I was some- 
what excusable. 

HOW TO CIRCUMVENT ROBBERS, AND KEEP 

RIGHT ON TRANSFERRING, RAISING 

QUEENS, ETC. 

During the summer of 1879 the basswood 
season failed us suddenly about the 20th 
of July, and left us with something like 
250 queen-rearing colonies. The bees very 
soon informed us which colonies would pro- 
tect their entrance, and which would not ; 
and by giving combs of unsealed larva? to all 
that had no laying queens, and combs of 
hatching bees to all that were short of bees, 
we soon had every one " holding the fort." 
Now, bees were coming in daily, and bees 
were going out daily. Queens and pounds 
of bees were ordered by every mail, and 
must go by first express, especially if we 
hoped to hold our customers, and so, even if 
robbers did incline to dip into every hive, 



business could not be stopped. I instructed 
the boys to make a wire-cloth house, to set 
over a hive when they wanted to open it, and 
here it is 




WIRE-CLOTH HOUSE, FOR TRANSFERRING, 
ETC., DURING A SCARCITY OF HONEY. 

The house is 6 feet long, 3i feet wide, and 
3| feet high. The operator is expected to 
sit on the seat illustrated elsewhere, and a 
movable shelf is fixed across one end, on 
which to do his work. A single sheet of 
painted wire cloth goes right around the 
building, and overhead. 

To prevent bees from getting under the 
edge, a strip of cloth is tacked on, having a 
hem on the lower edge, in which is drawn a 
cheap iron chain. This holds every portion 
down tight to the ground, even though the 
surface may be uneven. The whole is so 
light that it can be easily moved from hive 
to hive, or tipped up at any side when the 
operator wishes to get out. About 8 .yards 
of wire cloth are needed, at an expense of 
about $3.00. The woodwork well painted, 
and the cloth and chain, will cost about a 
dollar more. When you wish to fasten any 
colony into their hive without smothering 
them, just set your house over them, and 
they are out of the way. 

With this house you can open and exam- 
ine any hive under any circumstances, no 
matter how bad the robbers are ; and I 
should think it would pay for itself nearly 
every season in an apiary of twenty hives or 
more. 

A FOLDING TENT FOR TRANSFERRING, ETC. 

A cheaper, and much lighter to handle, 
though not as substantial a tent, may be 
made of mosquito-bar, instead of wire cloth, 
and our boys are now using these altogether 
during the present season of 1882. 

It is made by taking four basswood sticks, 
about 84 feet long, and fastening them to- 
gether like letter X's, with a good strong 
screw where they cross. A piece of good 
strong tarred twine, or small rope, makes 
the ridge-pole, as seen in the engraving, and 
this same twine unites the sticks at their 



ROCKY-MOUNTAIN BEE-PLANT. 224 KOCKY-MOUNTAIN BEE-PLANT. 



tops. The mosquito bar is sewed into a sort 
of bag, having the same strong twine all 
round its lower edges, and down each of the 
four corners. At these corners are also 
sewed metal rings, and these rings, when 
pulled down strongly, will loop over screw- 
heads, near the lower ends of the four sticks. 
When thus looped over, the sticks are bent, 
or bowed, so as to give room in the top of 
the tent. The whole structure weighs less 
than five pounds, and yet it gives room inside 
for a hive, and to do all necessary work. 
The basswood sticks are 1 x £ at the lower 
end, and tapered to 1 x | at their upper end, 
with the corners taken off, to make them as 
light as possible. Where the bend comes, 
they are scraped a little thinner. 




THE SAME FOLDED UP. 

In the small cut at the left is shown the 
way the ring is looped over the screw-heads, 
and just below is seen the end of a 2i-inch 
wire nail, bent so it can be (when turned 
with the point downward) used as an anchor 
to keep the tent from blowing over. If the 
sticks are spread a little when the anchors 
are pushed into the ground, the tent stands 
very securely. 

ROCKY - MOUNTAIN BEE - PLANT 
( Gleome Integrifolia) . This is a beautiful plant 
for the flower - garden, to say nothing of 
the honey it produces. It grows from two 
to three feet in height, and bears large clus- 
ters of bright pink flowers, as shown in the 
cut. 

It is a near relative of the Spider-plant, 
which see. It grows naturally on the Rocky 
Mountains, and in Colorado, where it is said 
to furnish large quantities of honey. Al- 



though it succeeds easily under cultivation, 
in our locality I can not learn that it has ever 
been a success pecuniarily. With this, as 
well as with all other plants, it must be borne 
in mind that, to yield honey enough to give 
it a fair test, acres are needed, instead of lit- 
tle patches in the garden. The seed has been 
offered for sale for several years past, as a 
plant to be cultivated for honey ; even if it 
does not pay for honey, it will pay to have a 
bed of it on account of its beauty. 




ROCKY-MOUNTAIN BEE-PLANT. 

The engraving was copied from a larger- 
sized picture, in Prof. Cook's " Manual of 
the Apiary." During the past season of 
1879 we have had a number of the plants 
growing in our honey-garden. It is, how- 
ever, so much inferior in looks, as well as in 
the amount of honey produced, to the spider- 
plant, that we have not taken pains to save 
the seed. The two plants very much resem- 
ble each other, but the latter is a much 
stronger and finer-looking plant, and has a 
rank luxuriance of growth that the Rocky- 
Mountain bee-plant has not. 

To have them do well in our gardens, that 
is, give us a good yield of honey, the seeds 
would better be planted in a box indoors, 
say in February or March. Set them out 
when all danger of frost is past, and give 
them good rich soil, with about the same 
cultivation you would give your cabbages. 
They should stand about as far apart as hills 
of corn. If you have many plants, it will be 
a good plan to cultivate them as you do field 



ROCKY-MOUNTAIN BEE-PLANT. 225 ROCKY-MOUNTAIN BEE-PLANT. 



crops. It should be remembered, the better 
the soil and cultivation, the better will be 
the yield of honey. These remarks will ap- 
ply to either Rocky-Mountain bee-plant, Spi- 



der-flower, or the Simpson honey-plant. The 
first two blossom the first year ; the last, 
sparingly the first year, but abundantly the 
second year. 




HEXAGONAL BEE-HIVE. 




THE PLANT THAT PRODUCES THE CELEBRATED SAGE HONEY OF CALIFORNIA. 



g. 



SAGE {Salvia). This plant also belongs 
to the great family of Labiatce, or the mint 
family. Labiate means lip-shaped ; and if 
you look closely you will see that plants be- 
longing to this family have blossoms with a 
sort of lip on one side, something like the 
nose to a pitcher. Many of this family, such 
as Catnip, Motherwort, Fig wort, Gill- 
ovER-THE-GROUND,have already been men- 
tioned as honey - plants, and the number 
might be extended almost indefinitely. The 
sage we have particularly to do with is the 
white mountain sage of California; and I 
do not know that I should be far out of the 
way in calling this one of the most impor- 
tant honey - plants in the world. The crops 
of honey secured from it within the past ten 
years have been so immense that the sage 
honey is now offered for sale in almost all 
the principal cities in the world, and a nice 
sample of well -ripened California honey, 
whether comb or extracted, is enough to call 
forth exclamations of surprise and delight 
from any one who thinks enough of some- 
thing good to eat, and pleasant to the taste, 
to commit himself so far. I well remem- 
ber the first taste I had of the mountain- 
sage honey. Mr. Langstroth was visiting me 
at the time, and his exclamations were much 
like my own, only that he declared it was al- 
most identical in flavor with the famed hon- 
ey of Hymettus, of which he had received a 
sample some years ago. Well, this honey of 
Hymettus, which has been celebrated both 
in poetry and prose for ages past, was gath- 
ered from the mountain thyme, and the bot- 
any tells us that thyme and sage not only be- 
long to the same family, but are closely re- 
lated. Therefore it is nothing strange if 
Mr. Langstroth was right, in declaring our 
California honey to be almost if not quite 
identical in flavor with the honey of Hymet- 
tus. This species of sage grows along the 
sides of the mountain, and blossoms success- 
ively as the season advances ; that is, the 
bees first commence work on it in the val- 
leys, and then gradually fly higher up, as the 



blossoms climb the mountain - side, giving 
them a much longer season than we have in 
regions not mountainous. 

There are several varieties of mountain 
sage, and there has been some discussion as 
to which one furnishes the largest amount 
and the finest honey. The one figured below 
was sent us by a friend in California, who as- 
sures us it is the veritable mountain sage, 
and produces the celebrated honey that has 
made California famous. 




CALIFORNIA WHITE MOUNTAIN SAGE. 

One striking peculiarity of this honey is, 
that it does not candy, but remains limpid, 
during the severest winter weather. I have 
taken a sample so thick that the tumbler 
containing it might be turned bottom up- 
ward without its running at all, and placed 
it out in the snow, in the dead of winter, and 
failed to crystallize it. This is a very valua- 
ble quality of it, if it is invariably the case ; 
for we all know that the candying tendency 
is somewhat of a drawback to the sale of 
extracted honey. I presume the honey 



SMOKE AND SMOKERS. 



228 



SMOKE AND SMOKERS. 



should be fully ripened in the hive, to have 
it possess this property, as it is well known 
that perfectly ripened clover honey will often 
possess this same property here, while un- 
ripened honey, of any kind, is much disposed 
to candy at the approach of cool weather. I 
believe some effort has been made to culti- 
vate this plant; perhaps a soil that raises 
pennyroyal naturally, would suit it, as they 
are nearly allied, and I have been told that 
pennyroyal yields considerable quantities of 
honey, on the waste lands of Kelley's island, 
in Lake Erie. 

It has been said, that one soon tires of this 
beautiful aromatic flavor of the mountain 
sage, and that, for a steady diet, the white 
clover honey of the Western Reserve far out- 
rivals it. This may be so ; for, as a general 
thing, I believe people usually tire of these 
strong and distinct flavors in honey, like 
those of basswood and mountain sage. For 
all that, dear reader, if you have never tast- 
ed mountain sage honey, and are a lov- 
er of honey, there is a rich treat in store 
for you, when you do come across some. 

Since I have been writing about the sage, 
I have concluded to have a bed of it on my 
honey farm, where it will be a curiosity to 
visitors, even if it does not yield honey 
here as it does in California. Now let us 
see who will have the nicest flower garden 
of honey plants. Not a patch all choked up 
with weeds, and scattered about in wild 
disorder, but a real pretty little garden. You 
can roll up your sleeves and set to work at it 
this very minute, if you wish. 

SMOKE AND SMOKERS. We can 
drive cattle and horses, and, to some extent, 
drive even pigs, with a whip; but one who un- 
dertakes to drive bees in any such way will 
find to his sorrow, that all the rest of the ani- 
mal kingdom are mild in comparison, espe- 
cially as far as stubbornness and fearlessness 
of consequences are concerned. You may 
kill them by thousands ; you may even burn 
them up with fire, but the death agonies of 
their comrades seem only to provoke them 
to new fury, and they push on to the com- 
bat with a relentlessness which I can com- 
pare to nothing better than to a nest of yel- 
low-jackets that have made up their minds 
to die, and to make all the mischief they pos- 
sibly can before dying. 71 It is here that the 
power of smoke comes in ; and to one who 
is not conversant with its use, it seems 
simply astonishing to see them turn about 
and retreat in the most perfect dismay and 
fright, from the effects of a puff or two of 
smoke, 3 from a mere fragment of rotten 



wood. What would we bee-keepers do with 
bees at times, were no such potent power as 
smoke known ? 

A great many colonies of bees, common, 
as well as Italian, can be handled almost the 
season round without smoke, while there 
are others that it would be almost madness 
to attempt to handle in the same way. 
With a little practice we can decide before 
going far enough to get stung, whether it 
will be safe to attempt handling them with- 
out smoke. 

When away from home, if I have occasion 
to handle a colony I test their gentleness 
by proceeding to open the hive as carefully 
as possible. If they rush out in a great body 
as soon as an opening is made, I wait a lit- 
tle to see if they will go back soon : if they 
do not, but show a disposition to fight, I 
hunt up a couple of pieces of rotten wood, 
and get a coal of fire to put between them. 
With this, smoke can be blown on them 
until they are driven out of the way, down 
among the combs. If a coal of fire is not 
handy, light the wood with a match, but it 
takes more time to get it going. If com- 
pelled to use a match, a roll of cotton rags 
is very convenient, as it lights quickly. If 
it is carefully extinguished as soon as done 
with, a roll of rags will do very well for a 
small number of hives. With a large apia- 
ry, rotten wood, chips, or sawdust, is much 
cheaper than the rags, and, to use them con- 
veniently, a pan or kettle is often used. 
Several of our neighbors who keep bees 
largely, use such a kettle with a long bail, 
fixed so that it always stands upright, that 
the operator may not be obliged to stoop 
every time he wishes to pick it up. In the 
kettle are put chips, sticks, sawdust, etc., 
and when it is once started it- will keep 
burning for a whole day. If it burns too 
strongly, some damp sawdust is thrown on, 
and, when not in use, the fire smoulders in- 
visibly. When smoke is wanted, the kettle 
is given a shake by the bail, and at once a 
dense smoke arises. If this smoking-kettle 
is placed at the proper side of the hive, the 
wind will throw the smoke where wanted, 
leaving both hands at liberty. Where rob- 
bers are bad, this is a very convenient ar- 
rangement, for it not only keeps the bees in 
the hive in subjection, but keeps the angry 
bees flying about in the air at bay. 

I presume there are some who will 
use this kind of smoker in preference to any 
other. The objections are, that one is pret- 
ty apt to have smoke blown in his eyes very 
inopportunely, and I, for one, would almost 



SMOKE AND SMOKERS. 



229 



SMOKE AND SMOKERS. 



as soon be stung as to be smoked. Another 
is, that bees frequently fall into the kettle ; 
and the sight of one heavily laden little fel- 
low writhing in death agonies on the burn- 
ing embers would be enough of a lesson for 
me. At one time a queen fell into our ket- 
tle, and was only by rare good luck rescued. 
To prevent such mishaps I thought of a 
wire-cloth cover for the kettle, and as I had 
been using with good satisfaction a small 
saucepan with a handle, in place of a kettle, 
it did not take very long to decide that a 
common corn-popper was just about what 
was wanted. 

CORN-POPPER SMOKER. 

This, when tried, proved to be in many 
respects very convenient, for it could easily 
be started burning briskly by whirling the 
whole about the head, like a torch, and the 
ashes fell out of themselves. For awhile we 
thought we should want nothing better. 
The difficulty, however, with this was, that 
it would often give too much smoke : it 
smoked the eyes, and it burned so rapidly 
that it was quite a task to provide fuel. It 
is true, that it never annoyed us by going 
out as did the bellows smokers, but, on the 
other hand, it did not offer the same facil- 
ities for throwing a jet of smoke down into 
the hive, or into any particular corner. 
With all the good points of the corn-popper, 
it was finally laid aside for the Quinby smo- 
ker again, even if it did try our patience 
sorely by going out whenever it was allowed 
to tumble over, and many times when it did 
not tumble over at all. The Bingham smo- 
ker came a little nearer to the kettle and 
corn-popper, in having a much larger recep- 
tacle for the fuel; and as one of the valves 
that Quinby used is dispensed with, it is not 
very likely to go out, unless it is overturned. 

Although there are some who prefer a 
simple tin tube with a wooden plug in each 
end, to be held in the mouth, the majority 
of our bee-keepers seem to be strongly in 
favor of the bellows smoker, and after try- 
ing to learn to like one, I find myself much 
like the rest. I should, of course, much pre- 
fer a mouth smoker to none at all. There 
is one point in its favor : it can be held 
in the mouth so that both hands are at lib- 
erty, but one that can be set on the ground 
so the wind carries the smoke over the hive, 
I think preferable. 

TOWKLEY'S SMOKER. 
All bellows smokers that I have used are objec- 
tionable in this respect, that, when handling cross 
swarms of hybrid bees, they require an extra hand, 
or else the operator must use the bellows with one 
hand while he works with the other. For several 



years past I have used an ash pail, sett ing it on a 
stand just high enough so that the wind would blow 
the smoke over the top of the hive; but as the hives 
were not all the same height, it was necessary to 
have several stands to correspond with the height 
of the hives. I now use a pail made expressly for 
the purpose, which will be readily understood by 
the following cut: 




lOWNLEY'S SMOKER. 

Eight inches in diameter, by ten inches high is 
large enough. It is made of sheet iron, with the 
handle riveted on. The hook at the top is two 
inches long, so that, when hooked onto a hive, there 
will be the space of an inch between the smoker 
and hive, while the curved piece of sheet iron, the 
center of which is riveted to the side of the smoker, 
near the bottom, will keep that part also away from 
the hive. Enough dry peat, or " marsh muck," or 
even coarse, damp sawdust, or fine, damp chips, 
can be put into it, with some Are, to keep it smok- 
ing half a day at a time, and it is always ready for 
use. All that is necessary is to hang it on the wind- 
ward side of the hive, stand on the opposite side, 
and go right to work. J. H. Townley. 

Tompkins, Jackson Co., Mich. 

I have many times noticed the same ob- 
jection to the bellows smokers that is men- 
tioned by friend Townley, and this is one 
reason why I have made the fire-pot of ours 
large, so that it might be placed on one 
corner of the hive, and keep a small cloud 
of smoke in the air, over the hive. One 
great objection to an open fire - pot is that 
bees often fall into the fire ; and to obviate 
this, I have taken the liberty to add a wire- 
cjoth cover to the Townley smoker, as seen 
in the cut. To make the implement lighter, 
I would have it made of tin, instead of 
sheet iron ; and if it is kept somewhere out 
of the rain, as, of course, it always should 
be in any case, it will keep nice, and last a 
long while. The greatest objection to these 
smokers is, as has been mentioned, that 
one's eyes are always liable to be smoked in 
a way that is, to me, more annoying than an 
occasional sting ; for the wind is rarely so 
accommodating as to blow the smoke just 
where wanted, and nowhere else. For all 
this. I presume there are some of you who 
will prefer such a smoker to any other kind. 

FUEL FOR SMOKERS. 

Perhaps rags work as nicely as any thing; 
but as it would require a great many for the 
wants of a large apiary, we must hunt up 

15 



SMOKE AND SMOKERS. 



230 



SMOKE AND SMOKERS. 



some thing cheaper. If Ave go out in the 
woods during a dry time, we can find rotten 
wood, by taking some care and pains, that 
will ignite readily with a match, and keep 
burning. This is quite desirable for the 
smokers with a small narrow tube, but not 
so much so with those of a larger capacity 
for fuel, as it burns out almost too rapidly. 
For the latter, common stove-wood, cut into 
short pieces and split up, does very well. 
When some of the little folks are wanting 
something to do, you can show them how, 
and have a large basketful cut up and kept 
in readiness, in some dry place. The sound 
hard wood will last much longer than the 
rotten wood. A couple of years ago a friend 
sent us a box of a mossy substance, which I 
supposed to lie prat from the swamps; but as 
it did not burn very readily then, it was laid 
aside and forgotten. This summer, how- 
ever, I found our boys using it in their smo- 
kers, and, as it lights readily with a match, 
and makes a great quantity of smoke, I am 
inclined to think we shall find nothing bet- 
ter. It is very light, can be cheaply shipped, 
and makes but a very small amount of ashes. 
I would advise those who have peat-swamps 
near them, to make a trial of it. It takes 
quite a time to dry thoroughly, which is the 
reason we did not discover its valuable prop- 
erties sooner: if cut into thin slices, it would 
probably dry much sooner. 

One of the greatest objections to using 
burning rags, rotten wood, or any thing else, 
in the hand, or in an open dish, is that sparks 
may get on the quilt, in the sawdust, or 
where they may do harm about the apiary. 
A. visitor once showed me how I could use 
a piece of rotten wood in my hand, and in 
less than 24 hours I got the sawdust on tire, 
and burned mi one of my best colonies. Dur- 
ing dry hot summer weather, it behooves us 
to lie very careful. 

BELLOWS SMOKERS. 

Quite a varietv of these are now in com- 
mon use ; but the first one, I believe, put in 
market for the use of bee-keepers, was by 
our old friend M. Quinby. Shortly after- 
ward it was considerably improved by w.hat 
is known as the Bingham smoker, made and 
sold by T. F. Bingham, Abronia, Mich. 

COLD-BLAST SMOKEKS. 

Daring the year 1879, Mr. J. G. Corey, San- 
ta Paula, Cal., and Norman Clark, of Ster. 
ling, Ills., each without the knowledge of the 
other, made important improvements, on one 
and the same principle; viz., blowing, on the 
bees, cold air charged with smoke, instead of 
lint air. These improvements are what has I 



been ccdled the cold-blast arrangement. I will 
describe the form most used at this time. 

HOW TO MAKE A CLARK'S COLD-BLAST SMO- 
KER. 

The first thing to make is the bellows. 
Two pieces of board, as shown in the cut be- 
low, are used for this. 




BOARDS FOR MAKING SMOKER - BELLOWS. 

These boards are about &J long and If wide. 
The thickness is about I, or as thick as can be 
planed nicely when two are got out of an 
inch board. The lumber usually preferred is 
basswood, because it is light, and not apt to 
split. Where smokers are to be made by the 
quantity I would cut the inch boards into 
lengths of 6 or 8 feet, split them about 5 in. 
wide, as the case may be, split them edge- 
wise, and plane, the pieces on both sides. We 
put them in bundles precisely as we do the 
stuff for four-piece section boxes, using the 
same iron clamps. AVhen clamped, bolts are to 
be cut off (as in making sections) with a saw 
large enough to go through. If no such saw 
is at hand, they may be cut in from each side. 
After the bolts are cut, a corner is to be tak- 
en off, as shown in the cut above. 

When the corners of the bolts are off, the 
whole bolt is to be nicely sandpapered, and 
the edges of the board planed, so that each 
board is finished nicely when taken out of the 
clamp. Just half of the boards are to have a 
slanting Hnch hole bored in them, to put in 
the blast-tube, and the other half are to have 
li-inch holes for the valves, to admit air. By 
far the cheapest way to bore the latter is 
while the boards are all clamped together. 
Have a long bit that will bore clean and 
smooth, and decide, by measuring, when it is 
through just half the boards. In this way it 
takes but little time to get the boards ready 
for a thousand smokers, for they are never 
handled singly at all. 

For the leather, you want some smooth, 
soft sheep-skin, and the piece needed for the 
bellows is 24f inches long by 3i wide, in the 
middle, and gradually tapers to only t inch 
in width at each end. You will also want 
some strips I inch wide, and as long as these 
pieces, for a binding, when the leather is 
tacked to the boards. The whole of the leath- 
er for a smoker should not cost to exceed 10 
cents, for we can get a whole piece large 
enough to iruike eight or ten smokers for only 



SMOKE AND SMOKERS. 



231 



SMOKE AND SMOKERS. 



75 cts. Besides the tacks, the leather should 
be fastened to the wood with glue, to get an 
air-tight joint. The valves are simply pieces 
of soft leather tacked over the little square 
hoards that cover the hole. In making bel- 
lows there will be fragments of leather left 
that will do for nothing else than the valve. 

SPRING FOR OPENING THE BELLOWS. 

This is made of coppered iron wire No. 11. 
The wire is made into straight rods by ma- 
chinery, and each rod should be 26i long. 
They are bent in a lathe as shown in cut. 



of this circle, or disc, with a hollow punch 
cut out a piece 3 inches in diameter. Now 
cut the circle into four equal pieces, and you 
have enough for four cases for fuel. This 
piece or blank is shown in fig. 1 below: 




THE SPRING AFTER IT IS PUT ON THE 
BELLOWS. 

Each arm of the spring is fastened to the 
bellows by a little wire staple. In the figure 
the spring is shown held by part of a wrought- 
iron butt. We find these staples to do just 
as well. We have never known this kind of 
spring to break, for the spring comes on 
such a length of wire that it is not severe at 
any point. 

Bend your springs so that the boards will 
come up promptly as far as the leather will 
allow. To make a neat job, you should put 
on the leather with wire nails, about five- 
eighths in length. Put the boards closely to- 
gether at the end where the hinge is, and tack 
one end of your long piece of leather. The 
boards should be separated at the other ends, 
as far as the width of the leather will allow. 
Draw the leather close up to the wood, and 
tack at intervals. Now tack the i-inch strip 
on for a binding. If you wish a pretty job, 
use red morocco for this last. When your 
tacks are all in (I would drive them a little 
more than half an inch apart) you are ready 
to pare off the surplus leather with a very 
sharp knife. Finish off every thing neatly 
with sandpaper, and your bellows is done. 
The leather has cost us 10 cts., the two boards 
possibly 5 cts., and the spring 5 cts. more. 
Allowing 5 cts. for your time in tacking on 
the leather and sandpapering, you have a 
good bellows for 25 cts. Eor this price it 
should be as good as any thing in the market. 

HOW TO MAKE THE TIN CASE FOR FUEL. 

For these cases we want a nice quality of 
IX tin, 20 in. square. Now draw a circle as 
large as can be drawn on this sheet. We 
make them 19£ in diameter, In the center 




THE TINWORK USED FOR COLD - BLAST 
SMOKER. 

Before folding those blanks up into cone- 
shaped cups, you will have to snip off the cor- 
ners, which our engravers failed to do. The 
blanks should be put through the rollers so 
as to fold them first on one side and then on 
the other, that they may roll up smoothly and 
evenly when formed and locked together 
finally. 

Fig. 2 shows the blank of which the curved 
spout is made. It is formed up, lapped at 
the joint, and soldered, and the tube then 
bent in a curve while a tapering rod of lead 
is inside of it. 

This blast-tube is made of tin, tapering like 
the spout of an oil-can. It is made just as 
large, at the large end, as it can be, and be 
driven into the board. The inside is then 
burnished down hard and close to the wood, 
making it firm and air-tight, and then secur- 
ed by a couple of heavy annealed tacks, driv- 
en through the tin and wood, and clinched. 

Fig. 3 is the bottom, with door B attached 
by a rivet C. The door is made by cutting 
in two a circular piece like the bottom, each 
piece making two doors. The piece A is 
formed of a strip l£xot, locked into the 
semi-circular piece on one edge, and folded 
on the other edge. The end that extends be- 
yond is turned up so as to catch on the bottom 
of the fire-case, to hold the door securely. 

Fig. 5 is the piece of tin that comes out of 
the door B. It is punched full of f holes. 
The edges are then turned over to make it 
strong, and it is snapped into the bead, seen 
in the fuel-case just back of where the bent 
air-tube enters, forming the grate to hold 
the fuel. 

The fuel-case is fastened to the top of the 
bellows by means of four screws. No. 8, H 
inches in length. To hold the case up the 
right height from the wood, four tin tubes 
are put over the screws before they are turned 
clown into the wood. These tubes are 



SMOKE AXD SMOKERS. 



SMOKE AXD SMOKERS. 



made of pieces of tin, 1 inch square. They 
are rolled up with a little steel rod having a 
crank on the end. A groove in this steel rod 
catches the end of the tin. which is inserted 
through an opening in a cylinder in which 
the rod revolves, thus making it possihle to 
roll the tubes quite rapidly. 

Almost any tinsmith has the tools necessa- 
ry for making the tinwork, and if you show 
him this description he will readily under- 
stand it. In our husiness we have a pair of 
circular shears that cut the large circles by i 
a single turn of a crank, and they are cut in 
quarters by a pair of tinner's squaring shears. 
The holes for the door are also cut by a foot- 
power press, and the holes in the blank sheet 
for the screws and blast-tube are also cut by 
one operation by the foot-power press. 



ment known as a perfume - atomizer, or 
spray-diffuser, the current of air drawing 
either air or liquids after it. 

The action of the cold-blast principle will 
be made plain by the 
cut opposite, which was 
made from Corey's orig- 
inal cold - blast smoker 
as it was sent me. The 
blast, in passing thro' 
the larger tube that in- 
closes the blast -tube, 
draws the air with iti 
from the fire - recepta- 
cle ; this, of course, pro- original cold bla 
duces a partial vacuum, and causes the out- 
er air to rush in through the holes in and 
about the damper. The blast, as you will 





CLARK S COLD 

The manner in which the fuel-case is fas- 
tened to the bellows is shown in the cut 
above. With a sharp-pointed scratch-awl, 
holes are first pricked where the screws are 
to go. and these pricks serve to aid in start- 
ing the gimlet -pointed screws into the 
wood. The screws are turned with a screw- 
driver having a long slender blade, or, still 
better, a blade made of a round rod of steel. 
except at the point, where it turns the screw. 
This screw-driver is worked down through 
the door to the smoker. The blast of air is 
brought through the curved tube ending near 
the point of the cone. 

With the old Simplicity smokers, much 
complaint has been made about burned fin- 
gers, when getting the top off to replenish 
the fuel. You will observe in this that we 
have made a door, with a slide to close it, 
and this door also forms the damper. 

Where one has the proper machinery, such 
as we have described, the work can lie done 
much more rapidly ; but I think there will 
be no trouble in making the smoker from the 
above directions, at any common tin-shop. 

The principle of this cold-blast idea is pre- 
cisely the same as that of the little imple- 



BLAST SMOKER. 

observe, is all cold air, and the smoke is 
brought up and mixed with it in the way I 
have mentioned. The draft is sufficient to 
burn any fuel that is properly dried, full as 
rapidly as it is desirable to have it burn. 

IIOW TO USE THE COLD-I5LAST SMOKER. 

Get some dry rotten wood, something that 
you can break up easily,with the hands, and 
that is sufficiently dry to be lighted easily 
with a match. Fill the smoker full of wood 
broken up moderately fine, especially that 
portion of it that is put in around the door. 
Close the door nearly down to its place, so 
as to have only a small draft-hole open. 
Now light your match on the strip of sand- 
paper pasted on the bellows near the mouth 
of the fire -pot, and, when it gets well 
burning, hold it before the fuel. The blaze 
of the match will not go in and light the 
wood, of course; but if you work the bel- 
lows while keeping the match there, the 
blaze will shoot in and ignite the rotten 
wood in a twinkling. Keep blowing for a 
minute, and I think you will be satisfied 
with the amount of smoke. When you 
want the smoker to go out, turn the door so 
as to close the damper, it should never go 






SOLDERING. 



SOLDERING. 



out otherwise, if it is in proper order, and 
your fuel right. 

If you wish to burn rags, make them into 
a long roll something like a sausage — I beg 
pardon for the comparison — a slim bag, 
stuffed with refuse rags such as you can buy 
at the stores at 1 cent a lb. Coil this roll of 
rags around the smoker inside, in a sort of 
corkscrew shape, so that no fold touches the 
next, the lower end coming just before the 
draft-hole. It will now r burn slowly until all 
is consumed, or until the draft is turned. If 
you let one fold strike the next, it will give 
more smoke, but, of course, will not burn so 
long. The cone will, in time, get filled up 
witli soot ; and to have the smoker burn 
freely, this must be cleaned out when neces- 
sary. It is easily removed with a stick of 
the proper shape. If you want a great quan- 
tity of smoke, when you set your smoker 
down, set it so the wind will blow in at the 
draft. Ordinarily I should turn it from the 
wind, to save the fuel. The circular grate 
can be easily pushed out when you wish to 
clean out the soot. Give the smoker a good 
shake, and blow out the ashes before you di- 
rect it into the hive. 

Judging from experience, I think it will be 
a good idea to go out into the woods with a 
wagon, and get a good lot of nice rotten wood. 
To rotten elm we rather give the preference. 
If you haven't a place where you can keep it 
dry, build a small house on purpose for it. 
Lay it out in the hot sun until it is perfectly 
dry, or dry it in an oven. After you have got 
it dry, do not leave it out in the rain. If you 
are awfully careless, get your wife to help you 
to remember. 

SOLDERING. About 27 years ago— 
is it possible that it is really so long V— there 
appeared in the Scientific American, and sev- 
eral other papers, an advertisement, headed 
"Mend Your Own Tinware," and to the 
effect that the implements, with full printed 
instructions, would be sent by mail for 30 c. 

The signature to the advertisement was 
Amos I. Root & Co., Medina, O. The Amos 
I. Root was myself ; but the " Co." existed 
only in my fertile, but (I fear) unscrupulous 
brain. Many 30 "centses" were sent, and I 
. drove quite a thriving business, for a boy of 
only 18. I believe the implements generally 
. gave good satisfaction, and I should look 
back at the enterprise with some degree of 
pride, were it not for that unfortunate pro- 
pensity of desiring that the world should 
think me greater than I really was, which 
then prompted me to think I needed to say 
"Co., 11 to induce people to invest. 



It was just about this time that the Amer- 
ican Agriculturist began to do a thriving 
business exposing humbugs and swindles, 
and, the first I knew, they had my soldering- 
implements held up to view. My little sold- 
ering iron, or brass, rather, they laughed at, 
and, without even reading the printed direc- 
tions, they pronounced the little metal case 
of chloride of zinc, with the few strips of 
solder, entirely worthless for mending tin- 
ware; and so I dropped that speculation, not, 
however, without something of a protest 
that I was right, and they wrong. We 
should be very careful about consigning 
things to the Humbug and Swindle depart- 
ment too hastily. I am inclined to think 
some good resulted, at all events ; for very 
soon after, they got up some soldering-im- 
plements of their own, which they sold for 
$1.00. They gave a full-sized soldering-cop- 
per, a box of rosin, and quite a bar of solder. 
As bee-keepers find a great many uses for 
tin and tinwork about the apiary, it has oc- 
curred to me that I might get up a little 
"kit of tools" that would help you a great 
deal, or, rather, might tell you how to get up 
your own. Well, here we are, ready to talk 
about soldering. 

A 1-lb. soldering-copper will cost you about 
35c., and a handle for the same, perhaps 10c. 
It may not be in order when received, and 
to put it in working trim will be your first 
job. File each of the four sides bright and 
smooth, and, either with file or hammer, 
make a nice sharp point to the tool. Solder- 
ing-irons, like lead-pencils and a great many 
other things, should be kept sharp, to do 
good work. Get a piece of brick, some sol- 
der, and some rosin. Heat your iron hot, 
but not red hot, and rub it in the rosin and 
brick-dust. This should be placed in a small 
cavity, in a piece of wood. If you rub the 
point of the iron hard against the wood, the 
brick will scour it bright, and the rosin will 
coat it so that no air can oxidize the copper. 
If you now melt a little from your bar of sol- 
der, in the cavity in the wood, it will readily 
unite with the copper and cover the surface 
as if it were dipped in quicksilver. When 
it is tinned all over, it is in working trim. 
Every time you forget and let the iron get 
red hot, it will burn the solder off, and it 
must be tinned over again, in the same way. 

If you wish to solder on bright tin. you 
have only to fasten the pieces securely where 
you want them, and then just solder it. If 
you look at a tinsmith you will think it is 
just as easy as can be, to make the bright 
melted tin run down the joint so smoothly 



SOLDERING. 



234 



SOLDERING. 



that it looks like one continuous piece; but 
when your own inexperienced hands under- 
take the task— oh dear ! oh dear ! You are 
awkward, without doubt; but perhaps the 
greatest trouble is, that you have not all the 
necessary appliances at hand. To do a nice 
job, and do it conveniently, you will want a 
soldering-board, something like this : 




SOLDERING-BOARD. 

It should be about 12x18 inches, and the 
sides about an inch high. The two staples 
are for resting your iron, to prevent its burn- 
ing the wood when not in use, and for hold- 
ing the bars of solder, when the iron is 
touched to them. On the right hand, a bar 
of solder is shown, ready for use. You can 
never do anything with your solder laid flat 
on a board. On the left, are two little boxes ; 
one is to hold a wet rag. on which the iron 
is to be wiped every time vou take it from 
the fire, that we may have a bright clean 
surface. The other is to hold the powdered 
rosin ; and if you wisli to work with satis- 
faction, I would advise you not to get the 
rosin on your fingers or clothes. For a 
brush for applying the rosin, draw some 
candle-wicking into a tin tube. You can 
do a cleaner job by having the rosin mixed 
with oil, for all that is left after soldering 
may be wiped off with a soft cloth. Our 
girls use the rosin and oil for making the 
inside work to extractors. The ability to do 
smooth nice work, and do it rapidly, comes 
by practice. 

Below I give you a cut of the soldering 
iron, the bar of solder, the box of rosiu, and 
the printed directions, such as are sent by 
mail for $1.00. Common solder is worth 
about 15c. per lb.; but for tine nice work, we 
use a larger proportion of tin. About equal 
parts of lead and tin is the general rule. 




SOLDERING-IRON AND IMPLEMENTS. 

You will probably get along very well 
with bright new tin but when you come to 
try repairing, or mending old breaks 
where the metals are old and rusty, much 
more skill will be required to make a strong 
job. You will also find that something 
more than rosin is needed for iron, brass, and 
copper, and for rusty tinware. This was 



where my soldering implements came in, 
years ago. I got hold of the idea in this way: 
One dull day in the winter, a stranger called, 
asking if we had any tinware we would like 
repaired, free of charge. You may be sure 
that he and I were friends at once, and we 
gathered up the tin pans, and set him at 
work. He took a pretty little camphene- 
lamp out of his pocket, then a bottle of some 
liquid, next an old file, and some little 
lumps of solder. A pan had a hole in the 
bottom ; he scraped around the hole with 
his file, then punched the hole a little larger 
so as to raise a slight burr, held the place 
over the lamp, wet the metal with the liquid, 
and dropped on a bit of solder, which melted 
and filled up the hole in a twinkling ; then 
another, and another, until all were done. 

" How much for your work?" 

" Nothing. " 

" Nothing? But what do you want us to 
do ?" 

"Buy that little bottle of soldering-fluid." 

"For how much V" 

" Twenty-five cents. 1 ' 

I put down the money very quickly, and 
he prepared to go. But I was full of ques- 
tions about the contents of that bottle. I 
was chemist enough, and Yankee enough, to 
make him own up, before he got out of the 
gate, that it was nothing but sal-ammoniac 
and chloride of zinc, in solution. In re- 
turn, he made me promise not to sell any of 
it inside of our county, under one year. The 
next week found me in a neighboring coun- 
ty mending tinware, gratis ; and before Sat- 
urday night, I was back with between $10 
and $12 clear profit, which was quite a spec- 
ulation in those days. To make this avoii- 
derful soldering - fluid which will cause the 
solder to flow on copper, zinc, iron or brass, 
you are to get i of a lb. of muriatic acid, of 
a druggist, set it in a glass jar or tumbler, 
out of doors, and sloAvly drop in pieces of 
zinc, until it will " eat " no more. Dissolve 
2 oz. of sal - ammoniac in a glass of water, 
and add this to the acid and zinc. Strain 
the liquid into a glass bottle, and keep it 
out of the way of the children. When you 
mend the tinware for " nothing," a half-oz. 
bottle of it is sold for 25c. Keep it off your 
clothes, and especially off your tools, for it 
rusts every thing badly. When you solder 
any thingwith it, carefully wash the article 
in clean water, or rub it off well with a wet 
cloth. If iron or steel, finish off with some 
oil on a cloth. If you are careless with such 
things, you would better let it alone entirely. 
Always use rosin when you can make it 



SOUKWOOD. 

work, as the fluid destroys the tinning on 
the soldering iron, very rapidly. To show 
you what you can do with these simple tools, 
I will state that the Hains feeder, shown on 
page 102, is easily made by one who is taking 
his first lessons in the art of soldering. 

SOUKWOOD [Oxyclendnmi Arboreum.) 
This is considered a great honey - bearing- 
tree in some localities, especially in the 
South ; but as I have had no personal expe- 
rience with it, I submit a description from 
one of our friends who has furnished us 
with the specimen of the leaves and flowers, 
from which our engraving was made. 

The Sourwood, sometimes called the sorrel, is a 
Arte tree from 40 to 60 feet in height, and about a 
foot in diameter; although it sometimes reaches 70 
feet in height and a foot and a half through. The 
popular name, Sourwood, is derived from the odor 
and the peculiar sour taste of the leaves and small 
twigs. 

It is entirely distinct from the black-gum and 
sour-gum, or pepperidge, with which it has been.un- 
wittingly classed by some writers on honey - plants, 
much to the injury of Sourwood. The former are 
honey - producers to a email extent, but are not 
worthy to be compared with Sourwood, which, we 
are convinced after living where basswood, poplar, 
clover, buckwheat, goldenrod, persimmon, and 
aster abound, has not its, superior among the boney- 
producing plants of America, either in the amount 
of yield, or in its beautiful appearance. Easswood 
is more important, only because of its widely extend- 
ed growth. We write this article, to call attention 
more directly to this tree as a honey-producer, liee- 
masters are familiar with other flora which abound 
where those who have written our books on bee cul- 
ture reside, yet few are aware of the merits of Sour- 
wood, outside of the regions where it is found. 




SOURWOOD LEAF, FLO WERS, AND SEED-PODS. 

We are not familiar with the extent of its growth, 
but know this much: it abounds in the native for- 
ests from southern Pennsylvania into Georgia and 
Mississippi. It seems to be more abundant along 
the whole mountainous tract of country on both 
sides of the Alleghanies and the Blue Eidge, reach- 
ing, in places, even as far as the tide-water on one 
side, and to central Tennessee on the other. In 



23o SOU 11 WOOD. 

many sections where poplar abounds and much 
buckwheat is raised, Sourwood is considered the hon- 
ey-plant, and yields the largest amount of surplus 
honey. It seems to flourish best on high, dry soil, 
and often abounds on poor woodland ridges, which 
can be purchased at a nominal price; though the 
forests along the rivers, in rich cultivated soil, are 
often beautifully checkered with the white blossoms 
in July. Being a tree, the growth is tall and gener- 
ally spare of branches along the trunk, except when 
it grows in the edges of fields, where it yields the 
greatest amount of honey. The trunk preserves its 
uniformity of size for some distance up from the 
ground. The wood is white, with straight grain, 
which splits nicely. It is brittle and quite fine 
grained, and is used for posts by cabinet-makers. 

The flowers (see engraving) are produced on 
spikes five or six inches long, which hang in clusters 
on the ends of branches. Many of these flower- 
bearing spikes are thrown out from one central 
spike, and are all strung with white, bell - shaped 
flowers, rich in honey. The flower is midway in 
size and appearance between the whortleberry blos- 
som and the lily of the valley. Unless there is a 
failure of the blossom, the honey- yield is sure to be 
abundant; for, being in the woods with good roots, 
the flow is not checked by ordinary droughts, nor do 
the rains wash out the honey from the pendant, cup- 
shaped flowers. Often have we regaled ourselves, 
while riding along the road, by breaking a bunch of 
the blossoms, shaking out the honey in the hand, 
and licking up the delicious nectar. It bears no 
fruit; but each flower, as it dries up, produces a 
brown seed-pod about the size of a large grain of 
wheat, which separates, when ripe, into five parts, 
and permits the very fine seed to fall to the earth. 

With improved methods of securing honey and 
sending it to market, we believe that, in suitable lo- 
calities in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, 
Tennessee, and Georgia, immense quantities of the 
most attractive honey can be secured from this 
source. The extent of its growth may be wider, but 
not to our knowledge. Let those speak for them- 
selves where it abounds, that the extent of this 
source of development of the honey industry may 
be better known. 

We omitted to state that the tree commences to 
bloom the latter part of June, and the harvest from 
this source lasts until the middle of July. 

We are inclined to think that the tree would 
thrive in our more northern latitudes ; perhaps 
anywhere in our land. It is found abundantly in 
many parts of the Alleghany Mountains, where it is 
very cold, the thermometer often indicating several 
degrees below zero. James W. Shearer. 

Liberty Corner, N. J., July 4, 1878. 

The following is from Feb. No. of Glean- 
ings, for 1880 : 

SOURWOOD HONEY, ETC. 

I send you to-day a sample of sourwood honey. 
Examine it and let us know what you think of its 
quality. I get more of it than of any other kind. I 
took about 800 lbs. last year from the poplar, and 
something more than 1200 from the sourwood, all ex- 
tracted. 

Now, Mr. Novice, nearly all of you bee - men up 
North say that all pure honey will candy in cold 
weather; and I want you to keep the; sample I send 
you through the winter, and report if cold weather 
candies it. I know you have colder weather than 



SPIDER-FLOWER. 



23G 



SPIDER-FLOWER. 



we have down here, but I don't believe it will get 
cold enough to candy sourwood honey. 

J. F. Montgomery. 
Lincoln, Tenn., Jan. 5, 1880. 

Thanks. You will see under Extracted 
Honey that I do not claim that all pure hon- 
ey will candy. If sourwood honey never 
candies, it will be a great point in its favor, 
and I would pay a good price for a barrel of 
it now, just on account of this one peculiari- 
ty. The sample is at hand, and, although it 
is not as light as our clover and basswood, 
the color is fair, and the flavor is beautiful. 
Its aroma is delightful, and has a suggestion 
of timber and forest- trees. 

SPIDER FLOWER (Cleome Pun- 
gens). This has but recently been brought 
into notice as a honey-plant. It belongs to 
the same family as the Rocky-Mountain 
Ree-plant, which it much resembles. 

Early in 1878, Mollie O. Large, of Pine- 
Hill Apiary, Millersville, 111., sent me some 
seeds, which I had started in a flower-pot, 
in the house, but transplanted them to the 
garden some time in May. Aug. 16th they 
were in full bloom, and the bees were at 
work upon them ; but, strange to say, the 
blossoms opened only at about sunset; ac- 
cordingly, after the time when th* bees 
have usually stopped flying, they w.eita seen 
eagerly hovering over this strange but 
beautiful plant. 

The petals, which are of a lovely deep 
pink, are all on one side of the blossom ; and 
on the other side we see what resembles 
the long, sprawling legs of the spider. The 
foliage is also quite ornamental, and we 
have decided to have a bed of it on our hon- 
ey-farm. 

In Sept. of the same year, Mrs. Large 
wrote as follows: 

Our experience with the spider-plant, this season, 
is this: It commenced to bloom about the 25th of 
June, and the bees have worked on it every fit day 
since. They commence about 5 o'clock p. m., and 
work until dark. I used to think bees went home 
with the sun, but I have heard them on this plant 
when too dark to see them at any distance, and 
found them again in the morning as soon as it was 
light, and for a while after sunrise. If you tie a 
piece of mosquito-bar over a bunch of the flowers, 
in the afternoon, and examine it about sundown, 
you can see the honey for yourself. We have about 
1-10 of an acre thi; year, but expect, next season, lo 
plant several acres, as we consider it ahead of any 
thing that we have tried for honey. 

Mollie O. Large. 

Pine Hill Apiary, Millersville, 111., Sept 11, 1878. 

Acting upon her suggestion, we tied a 
piece of lace over one of the blossoms on 
our plants, to keep the bees from it, and the 
drop of honey that collected was so 



large that I had a fair taste of it. It was 
very white and limpid, but had a slightly 
raw, unripened taste, which I presume the 
bees would know how to remedy. 

LATER. 

To-day is the 11th of October, 1879. This 
morning I got up before o'clock. I had 
been reading, the night before, in Midler's 
book, " The Life of Trust," and I was par- 
ticularly impressed with what he says about 
early rising, and the blessings God sends to 
those who make it a point to rise early and 
give their best and freshest thoughts to him. 
I put the book away, and went right to bed, 
that I might get up early. The gray of ap- 
proaching daylight heralding in this warm 
autumn day met my gaze as I sallied forth 
toward the factory. I opened my mouth and 
took in the fresh pure air, and, as I opened 
my eyes to the beauty of the world we dwell 
in, I opened my heart in thankfulness to 
Him who gave it all. As I came near the 
garden, I was surprised to hear a loud hum- 
ming so early. It was not robbing, but it 
was a hum of rejoicing. How strange it is, 
that bees will make this happy hum over the 
honey from the flowers, but never over syrup 
from any kind of a feeder. The sound led 
me to the spider-plant. It had been bearing 
honey a couple of months, at night and ear- 
ly in the morning, but I had no idea that 
they ever made so much noise over it as now. 
I approached leisurely, but was startled to 
find that each floweret contained a large 
drop of some liquid, so large, in fact, I 
thought it must be dew, and not honey. I 
touched my tongue, and, behold, it was fair 
honey, of a beautiful limpidity and taste, 
and then I understood the humming. As a 
bee alighted, and made his way down be- 
tween the stamens, I watched until he spread 
out that delicate, pencil-like tongue, and be- 
gan to draw in the nectar. Surely no bee 
can take in so large a drop; and so it proved. 
He lapped as long as he could and then rest- 
ed awhile; again he sipped the "sparkling 
ambrosia," and again he stopped. I could 
imagine him soliloquizing as he dipped into 
it a third time. 

" Did anybody ever before hear of a sin- 
gle floweret containing more than a bee 
could carry?" 

He finally spread his wings, and essayed 
to fly; but his greed had been too great; and 
when he bumped against a Simpson-plant, 
which is now out of bloom, down he went on 
his back in the dirt. Others did the same 
way, but soon they tried again, and I presume 
created a commotion in the hive, by coming 



SPIDER-FLOWER. 



237 



SPIDER-FLOWER. 



in, podded out with such a load. Now will 
our friend Mollie O. Large tell us if she has 
ever seen the like among her plants? An 

acre would furnish whew ! I should not 

be surprised if it made a barrel of sweet- 
ened water, any way, every morning. Now 
I want four acres of the Simpson honey-plant, 
and four more of the Mollie O. Large honey- 
plant ; if the name were not so long, we 
would call it so, for the credit she deserves 
for calling attention to it. Dear me ! the 
honey-farm will not be large enough . I have 
set the hands to-day to doing more under- 
draining, and I am going to plow up all cor- 
ners, and work up close to the fences, for we 
can not afford' to have a weed grow on the 
premises, so long as there are plants that 
bear honey like this. These plants are in our 
flower garden, close by the building, and have 
had a very rich, deep soil. This, perhaps, 
may account for such large amounts of hon- 
ey. This plant is strikingly like the Rocky- 



opens twice, but the honey is yielded only 
from the first blooming. In the center of 
the picture, a single floweret is shown, with 
its load of honey sparkling in the rays of the 
rising sun. The sight of a whole plant 
bending beneath a sparkling load of nectar 
like this is enough to set any bee-keeper 
crazy, let alone your enthusiastic old friend 
Novice. Our plants are on ground made by 
piling up the sods taken from where the 
factory stands; this may, in part, account 
for the great yield of honey. 

MORE ABOUT THAT AVONDERFUL SPIDER- 
PLANT. 

Oct. 14th. — Yesterday morning, Mr. Gray 
came down before sunrise, to verify my ob- 
servation and see that there was no mistake 
about that large drop of honey, the product 
of a single night. There is no mistake. 
Not only does a single floweret produce a 
large drop, but some of them produce a 
great many drops. Last evening we made 




MRS. MOLLIE O. LARGE'S SPIDER - PLANT, THE GREAT HONEY - PLANT OF THE AGE. 



Mountain bee-plant, of which I have given 
you a picture already, but it is so much larg- 
er, and bears so much more honey, that I can 
hardly think it worth while to offer the seed 
of the latter for sale any more. Our engrav- 
er has given you a picture of the plant, as it 
appears in our garden. 

The picture scarcely needs explanation. 
On one side is the beautiful leaf of the plant; 
on the other, one of the flower-stalks, of 
which there are from 12 to 20 to each plant. 
As the flowerets, shown in the center, keep 
blossoming each evening, the stem grows 
out in the center, until it becomes, finally, 
two feet long or more, and lined with seed- 
pods its whole length. These seed - pods, 
when ripe, break open, and the seed must be 
gathered daily, or it is lost. Each floweret 



observations by lamplight ; and, before 
nine o'clock, the globules of honey were of 
the size of large shot. The crowning exper- 
iment of all took place this morning. I was 
up a little after 5 o'clock, and, with the aid 
of a teaspoon, I dipped honey enough from 
3 or 4 plants to fill a 2- dram vial, such as we 
use in the queen-cages, a little more than 
half full . The honey in some of the flowerets 
had collected in a quantity so large that it 
spilled out and actually streamed on the 
ground. I have called this honey, but it is, 
in reality, the raw nectar, such as is found 
in clover and other flowers. The taste is a 
pure sweet, slightly dashed with a most beau- 
tiful, delicate flavor, resembling somewhat 
that of the best new maple molasses. The 
honey will be as white as the whitest linden, 



SPIDER FLOWER. 



288 



SPIDER FLOWER. 



so far as I can judge. With the aid of a 
lamp I evaporated the nectar down to thick 
honey. You can see something of what the 
bees have to do, when I tell you that I had 
in bulk, only about 1-5 part as much as when 
I commenced. You can also see that we 
now have some accurate figures with which 
to estimate the amount of honey which may 
be obtained from an acre of honey-plants. 

HOW MUCH HONEY WILL, AN ACRE OF 
PLANTS YIELD? 

I think I visited with my spoon, four plants. 
Perhaps half of the nectar was wasted, either 
by overflowing before I got there, or in my 
attempts to spoon it out. This will give a 
half-dram of nectar to each plant, each morn- 
ing. We shall set the plants 3 feet apart each 
way. At this rate, we have nearly 5000 
plants to the acre, and they would yield every 
morning, perhaps 5 gallons of nectar, or one 
gallon of ripe honey. The plant has been in 
bloom in our garden for the astonishing 
length of time of about 3 months ; this would 
give, counting out bad weather, perhaps 60 
gallons of honey, worth — say $60.00. I have 
known a single colony of bees to gather a 
gallon of raw honey in a day, from the clover; 
but as the bees seldom work on the spider- 
plant after or 10 o'clock in the morning, an 
acre might require 5 or 10 colonies, to go all 
over it every morning. How many acres of 



our best honey-plants will be required, to keep 
100 colonies out of mischief V As the Simpson 
honey-plant yields honey all day long, the 
two would go very well together ; and I am 
inclined to think 5 acres of each (good soil, 
xoell cultivated) would keep 100 colonies of 
bees busy, and out of mischief at least, dur- 
ing the whole of the fall months when bees 
i have nothing to do. 

Bear in mind, my friends, that this plant 
yields by far the largest amount of honey of 
anything that we have ever come across, and 
that its time of blossoming extends to an 
unusual length. It may be also, [that this 
amount of nectar is caused only by the un- 
usually fine, warm, October weather we are 
now having. 

Our boys are to - day planting out 1000 
Simpson honey-plant roots. I would advise 
no one to undertake such experiments, un- 
less he can stand a failure, if it should 
prove such. 

Shortly after the above was written, our 
artist, as a piece of pleasantry, made the rude 
sketch, found below. See Introduction, 
concluding remarks. 

It is now 1884, and I have nothing further 
to add in regard to the Spider-plant, except 
that it does not yield honey profusely unless 
it has a deep rich soil. On our creek bottom 
the stalks made a tremendous growth, and 




THE BEES AND THE SPIDER-PLANT, 



TIME AND PLACE. 

SCENE,— The flower garden - adjoining the 
Factory. 

TIME, — Half-past five o'clock in the morn- 
ing, Oct.U, 1879. 
For particulars of the "play," see previ- 
ous page. 



DRAMATIS PERSONS. 

Novice, who has just got up. 
. The Bees, who have just u got up." 
" Old Sol," who has just u got up" too, and 
who seems to have a lively interest in the 
proceedings, as he shows his ^ shining face" 
just over the top of the wire fence. 



STINGS. 



239 



STINGS. 



the blossoms were full of nectar ; but anoth- 
er plantation, on higher ground, yielded, 
comparatively, but little honey ; and during 
a dry spell, scarcely any nectar would be 
found in the blossoms. The Simpson honey- 
plant has turned out in much the same way. 

STINGS. It is true, that bees can not 
bite and kick like horses, nor can they hook 
like cattle; but most people, after having had 
an experience with bee-stings for the first 
time, are inclined to think they would rath- 
er be bitten, kicked, and hooked, all togeth- 
er, than risk a repetition of that keen 
and exquisite anguish which one feels as he 
receives the full contents of the poison-bag, 
from a vigorous hybrid, during the height 
of the honey-season. Stings are not all alike, 
by any means; and while I can stand the 
greater part of them without even wincing, 
or stopping my work, I occasionally get one 
that seems as if it could not possibly be 
borne. As I always find myself obliged to 
bear it, however, I try to do so as best I 
can. 

I have often noticed that the pain is much 
harder to bear, if I stop and allow my mind 
to dwell on it ; or after being stung, if I just 
think of former times when I have received 
painful stings, at the mere thought, a sud- 
den pang darts along the wounded part. I 
do not know why this is, unless it is the ef- 
fect of the imagination ; if so, then it is clear 
to my mind that even imaginary pains are 
very hard to bear. I have sometimes pur- 
posely, by way of experiment, allowed my 
mind to dwell on the pain of the sting the 
moment it was inflicted, and the increase 
would be such that it would almost make 
me scream with pain. If you doubt this, the 
next time your feet get very cold, just think 
of wading barefooted in the frozen snow, at 
a zero temperature. Perhaps my imagina- 
tion is unusually active, for it sometimes 
makes the pain, when riding in the cold, al- 
most unbearable, while I get along very well 
if thinking of something else. Well, if oth- 
ers have had a similar experience, and I pre- 
sume you all have, you can see why I have 
so often given as a remedy for stings, simply 
to keep on with your work, and pay no at- 
tention to the stings whatever. 

Of course, where stings swell on one so 
badly as to shut an eye, or the like of that, 
I presume you might be obliged to stop work 
awhile; but even then, I would advise pay- 
ing as little attention to the matter as it is 
possible to do, and by all means to avoid 
rubbing or irritating the affected part. I 
have known stings to be made very painful, 



by rubbing and fussing with them, that I 
have good reason to think would have given 
little if any trouble otherwise. You all know 
that when you get warmed up with hard 
work, a bruise, a bump, or a slight flesh 
wound, gives little if any pain ; but to sit 
down calmly and cut into one's flesh gives 
the most excruciating pain. When a lad, I 
have repeatedly cut great gashes in my fin- 
gers with my jack-knife, and felt but little 
pain at the time; but when it became neces- 
sary to lance the flesh to get a sliver out of 
the foot, or to cut open a stone-bruise, the 
pain was the most intense I can imagine. 
To pare away with the razor until you get 
through the skin, and see the blood start- 
why, it makes my flesh creep to think of it 
now ; but the clips that came unawares with 
the dull jack-knife were scarcely heeded at 
all, more than to tie up the wound to keep 
the blood from soiling my work. 

Well, the point is, we are to take stings 
just as we used to take the cuts with those 
jack knives, in our boyhood days. Of course, 
we are not to rush needlessly into danger; 
but when it comes, take it philosophically. 
I would pull the sting out as quickly as pos- 
sible, and I would take it out in such a way 
as to avoid, as much as possible, squeezing 
the contents of the poison- bag into the 
wound. If you pick the sting out with the 
thumb and finger in the way that comes nat- 
ural, you will probably get a fresh dose of 
poison in the act, and this will sometimes 
prove the most painful of the whole opera- 
tion, and cause the sting to swell when it 
otherwise would not have done so. 

I have sometimes thought it might be near- 
ly as well to leave the sting in the wound. I 
have frequently found them when washing, 
and the presence of the sting was the first 
indication I had that I had been stung ; but 
I presume I knew at the time that a sting 
had been inflicted. 

THE PROPER WAY TO REMOVE A BEE STING. 

The blade of a knife, if one is handy, may 
be slid under the poison bag, and the sting 
lifted out, without pressing a particle more 
of the poison into the wound. When a knife 
blade is not handy, I would push the sting 
out with the thumb or finger nail in much 
the same way. It is quite desirable that the 
sting should be taken out as quickly as pos- 
sible, for if the barbs (to be described fur- 
ther along) once get a hold in the flesh, the 
muscular contractions will rapidly work the 
sting deeper and deeper. Sometimes, the 
sting separates, and a part of it, one of the 



STINGS. 



2-10 



STINGS. 



splinters, so to speak, is left in the wound ; 
it has been suggested that we should be very 
careful to remove every one of these tiny 
points; but after trying many times to see 
what the effect would be, I have concluded 
that they do but little harm, and that the 
main thing is, to remove the part containing 
the poison-bag, before it has emptied itself 
completely into the wound. When I am very 
busy, or have something in my other hand 
making it inconvenient to remove the sting 
with my knife or finger-nail, I have been in 
the habit of rubbing the sting out against 
my clothing, in such a way as to push the 
poison-bag off sidewise; and although this 
plan often breaks off the sting so as to 
leave splinters in the wound, I have found 
little if any more trouble from them than 
usual. 72 

REMEDIES FOR BEE-STINGS. 

For years past I have taken the ground 
that remedies of all kinds are of so little 
avail, if of any avail at all, that the best way 
is to pay no attention to any of them. This 
has awakened a great deal of arguing, I 
know, and the remedies that have been sent 
me, which the writers knew were good, be- 
cause they had tried them, have been enough 
to fill pages of this book. I have tried a 
great many of them, and, for a time, have 
imagined they " did good;" but after giving 
them a more extended trial, I have been 
forced to conclude that they were of no avail. 
Nay, further : they not only did no good, but 
if the directions with the remedy were to rub 
it in the wound, they did a positive harm ; 
for the friction diffused the poison more rap- 
idly into circulation, and made a painful 
swelling of what would have been very tri- 
fling, if let alone. Please bear in mind that 
the poison is introduced into the flesh through 
a puncture so minute that the finest cambric 
needle could by no manner of means enter 
where the sting did, and that the flesh closes 
over so completely after it, that it is practi- 
cally impossible for the remedy to penetrate 
this opening ; now, e ven if you have a reme- 
dy that will neutralize the poison, in some- 
thing the same way that an alkali neutral- 
izes any other acid, how are you to get it 
in contact with the poison V I know of 
no way of doing it, unless we resort to a sur- 
gical operation ; and if you will try that kind 
of "tinkering" with one bee-sting, you will 
probably never want to try another. I tell 
you, there is no remedy in the world like let- 
ting it alone, and going on with your work 
without even thinking about it. But, sup- 
pose we get a sting under the eye, that 



closes up that very important organ ; shall 
we go on with our work still V Well, I be- 
lieve I would go on with my work still, and 
do the best I could do with one eye. If both 
were closed at once, I do not know but I 
would wait awhile until they should get 
open again. I would not resort to medicine 
and "tinkering," even then, but would let 
the eyes alone, until they came open of 
themselves. 

If the wound is feverish, or if a person has 
received a great number of stings at one 
time, an application of cold water, or cloths 
wet in cold water, may prove a relief ; but 
even in using this simple means, I would lay 
the cloth on very quietly, and carefully avoid 
rubbing or irritation. I have often dipped 
my hand in cold water after having a pain- 
ful sting ; but as my hand ached just as bad 
under the water (it really ached worse, be- 
cause I had nothing else to do but to stand 
there and think about it), I soon dropped that 
remedy also. A year or two ago, kerosene 
oil was suggested as a remedy, and two of 
our friends regarded it of such importance 
that they almost got into a controversy about 
which was entitled to the honor of the dis- 
covery. Well, I had a very bad sting on my 
hand, and I went for the oil-can, and dropped 
oil on the spot for some time ; as kerosene 
will remove a rusty bolt or screw when noth- 
ing else will avail, and as it seems to have a 
wonderful power of penetrating all cracks 
and crevices, I began to have faith that it 
might follow the sting of the bee, and in 
some way neutralize the poison. I had the 
satisfaction of having one of the most pain- 
ful and lasting stings I ever got ; and togeth 
er with the offensive smell of the oil, it quite 
sickened me of that, as a remedy. I pre- 
sume the oil made it no worse, but it really 
seemed to me that it must have done so. 

In discussing this matter of bee-sting rem- 
edies, we should remember that the pain of 
a sting very often ceases suddenly, with no 
application whatever ; those who have been 
stung a great deal will all tell you that this 
is the case. Well, the beginner who carries 
his saleratus- water or hartshorn, and always 
makes an application of some kind, will tell 
you, and truthfully too, that the pain stopped 
the very moment the remedy was applied. 
Again, some stings swell very badly, while 
others do not swell at all. Well, if an appli- 
cation is made, and no swelling results, he 
will remember how former stings had 
swelled, and at once ascribe the difference 
to the remedy applied. STou will see from 
this, that it is only by repeated trials, ex- 



STINGS. 



241 



STINGS. 



tending through a considerable period of 
time, that we can arrive at the truth. There 
is one rule that will apply to this, and to a 
great many other similar matters. If a 
thing is really good, it will come into general 
use, and stay there, not only for a few weeks 
and months, or for a single season, but will 
be in demand year after year. If I am cor- 
rect, not one of the bee-sting remedies has 
stood this test. Sooner or later they have 
all been dropped, and old bee-keepers get 
along in the way I have advised — picking 
the sting out, if they are not in too much of 
a hurry, and thinking no more about it. 

WHAT TO DO WHEN STUNG A GREAT NUM- 
BER OF TIMES, ALL, AT ONCE. 

There is verv seldom any need of such a 
catastrophe; but as such an event may come 
about, it may be well to consider the matter. 
In hiving hybrids, under certain conditions, 
I have known them to attack the operator in 
a mass, and sting him most unmercifully. 
A neighbor of ours was stung in this way 
until he fainted, and had to be carried into 
the house. In such cases, I would resort to 
the usual means to restore the person from 
the fainting-fit, and then extract the stings 
as speedily as possible, and treat with wet 
cloths. It is true, that death may result from 
the stings of bees, and, if report is correct, a 
single sting has been known to result in 
death, in very rare instances. Shall we stop 
keeping bees on this account? People are 
killed by horses almost every day, and such 
cases are comparatively frequent; but did 
any one ever advocate giving up the use of 
horses on that account? Cases that have re- 
sulted fatally, or in laying a person up for a 
time, or have produced fainting, are usually 
where the person is stung for the first time ; 
after the system gets inured to the poison, 
its effects are comparatively harmless. 

GETTING HARDENED TO THE EFFECTS OF 

STINGS. 

When I first commenced bee - keeping, 
stings swelled so badly, and were so painful, 
that I had either my hands or eyes swelled 
up most of the time, and I seriously contem- 
plated giving up the business, just on this 
account alone. After I had had a little more 
practice, I discovered that there was very 
little need of being stung at all, if one was 
careful not to provoke the ire of the little in- 
sects. Still further, I found the swelling to 
be gradually less and less ; and before my 
first summer was over, I very seldom felt the 
effects of any sting, the day afterward. 
When first commencing, if my eye was 
swelled so as to be closed by a sting, it often 



took until the third day, to have it go down 
entirely. The ABC class, almost without 
exception, corroborate this experience. 

HOW TO AVOID BEING STUNG. 

Some may imagine, from the foregoing, 
that it is necessary for one who keeps bees 
to submit to the pain of being stung several 
times, every day. A short time ago a lady 
said that she could never stand it to have 
her husband keep 100 swarms, for she got 
stung four or five times a day with only a 
dozen, and 30 or 40 stings a clay would be 
more than she could possibly bear. Now, 
my friends, I think I can take any one of you 
into an apiary of 100 colonies, and have you 
assist me all day long, without your getting 
a single sting. Nay, further : if you are very 
timid, and cannot bear a single sting, by tak- 
ing some pains you may be able to work day 
after day, without being stung. The apiary 
must be properly cared for, and no robbing 
allowed, and you must do exactly as I tell 
you. See Anger of Bees. It may be a 
hard matter to tell you in a book how to be- 
have without being stung, but I will try. In 
the first place, avoid standing right in front 
of any hive ; I am often very much tried 
with visitors (some of them bee-keepers, too, 
who ought to know better), because they will 
stand right before the entrance until they 
have a small swarm scolding around them 
because they cannot get out and in, and then 
wonder why so many bees are buzzing about 
in that particular spot. 73 If you should go in- 
to a factory, and stand in the way of the 
workmen until a dozen of them were blocked 
up with their arms full of boards and finish- 
ed work, you would be pretty apt to be told 
to get out of the way. Now, you are to exer- 
cise the same common sense in an apiary. 
By watching them you can tell at once 
their path through the air, and you are to 
keep out of their way. Eight back of any 
hive is a pretty safe place to stand. 

One of the first things to learn is to know 
whether a bee is angry or not, by the noise he 
makes. It seems to me you should all know by 
the hum of a bee, when it is gathering honey 
from the heads of clover in the fields, that it 
has no malice toward any living thing; it is 
the happy hum of honest industry and con- 
tentment. People sometimes jump, when a 
bee hums thus harmlessly along, and it 
seems to me they should know better, but I 
presume it is because bees are not in their 
line of business, and they don"t know " bee 
talk." 

Well, when you go in front of a hive, or 
I even approach hives that are not accustomed 



STINGS. 2 

to being worked with, one otl the sentinels 
will frequently take wing, r and, by an angry 
and loud buzz, bid you begone. This note 
is quite unlike that of a bee upon the flow- 
ers, or of the ordinary laborer upon the 
wing ; it is in a high key, and the tone, to 
me, sounds much like that of a scolding wo- 
man, and one who will be pretty sure to 
make her threats good, if you do not heed 
the warning. When one of these bees ap- 
proaches, you are first^to lower your head/or, 
better still, tip down your hat brim ; for 
these fellows almost always instinctively aim 
for the eyes. lie will often be satisfied, and 
go back into his hive if you move away a lit- 
tle; but you do not want to give him to un- 
derstand that you admit yourself a thief, 
and that he has frightened you. If he gets 
very threatening, and you are timid, you 
woidd better go into some building. I am 
in the habit of opening the door of the honey- 
house, and askiug visitors to go in there, 
when an angry bee persists in following 
them. Very many times I can hardly get 
them to go in as I direct, because they can 
not see why the bee will not follow them, 
and thus have them cornered up and a sure 
prey. 

I do not know why it is, but a bee very 
seldom ventures to follow one indoors. A 
single bee never does, if I am correct but a 
very vicious colony of hybrids, when fully 
aroused, may do so. I have learned by hab- 
it, to know just about when one of these 
cross bees is ready to sting; and the greater 
part of the time, I can catch them in the act 
of inserting their sting before I am stung. 
Sometimes I get a slight prick, but not often. 
Where there has been no robbing going on, 
one has usually warning enough, and in am- 
ple time, to take precautions. Where the 
bees are quietly at work, that is, r during the 
working season, there is but little danger 
from bees in the air. When you are work- 
ing with a hive, bending right over the un- 
covered frames, you are comparatively se- 
cure from the bees of other hives; for when 
there is no robbing, bees seem to have no 
disposition to meddle or hang around their 
neighbors' homes. This is one reason why 
bystanders, or those who are off at a little 
distance, are so much more apt to be stung 
than the apiarist who is right among them. 

HOW TO OPEN A HIVE, WITHOUT BEING 
STUNG. 

Have your smoker lighted, and in good 
trim, and then set it down near the hive you 
are going to work with. Now, I would nev- 
er use smoke with any hive of bees, unless 



2 STINGS. 

they need it to subdue them; for why should 
we disturb and annoy the little fellows while 
quietly going about their household duties, 
unless we are obliged to? I frequently open 
hive after hive, with no kind of use for 
smoke at all, and yet I often see bee-keepers 
drive the poor little chaps down to the bot- 
toms of their hives with great volumes of 
smoke, when they had not shown the least 
symptom of any disposition but the most 
friendly one. It is true, where the colony is 
very large, the bees sometimes pile up in the 
way, on the rabbets and ends of the frames, 
so that it becomes desirable to drive them 
away for their own safety. For this pur- 
pose, very little smoke is needed; and if you 
are in no great hurry, they will clear out of 
the way, if you just pat them on the backs 
gently with a weed or bit of grass. If the 
bees are disposed to be cross, and to show 
light, you will readily discover it the minute 
you turn up the first corner of the cloth cov- 
ering; and if it takes smoke to make them 
beg pardon, give them smoke, but only in 
small quantities until you are sure more 
is needed. The top of the hive is supposed 
to be off, the sheet removed, and yourself 
down on your knees on the sawdust beside 
the hive. If it is a chaff hive, you work 
standing, but lean your body against the 
hive. With your eye, decide which one of 
the 10 frames will come out easiest, and slide 
the rest on the rabbets a little away from it. 
By sliding two or three on each side, you 
can have all the room you need to lift out the 
frame without pinching a single bee. Now, 
this taking out not only the first frame, but 
any or all the frames, is a very important 
matter, if you wish to do it without getting 
stung. Suppose you are obliged to pass 
through a room, with the floor all covered 
with babies, creeping about. As you lift 
your feet and set them down, you will prob- 
ably exercise some care, for it would be quite 
a serious piece of business to hit one of the 
soft little things a blow with the heel of your 
great, awkward boot. Now I wish you to 
think it just as serious a matter to mash one 
of these little innocents while faithfully do- 
ing their work in their own home. I know 
you will say, some of you, that you haven't 
the time to be so careful, but I tell you God 
holds you responsible for any needless cruelty 
you may inflict on these dumb friends. Be- 
sides that, you will make more money, to be 
humane and gentle, than if you smash ahead, 
regardless of everything except the money 
you can squeeze out of these little creatures. 
If you can lift out the frames and put them 
back without harming a bee, you can get 



STINGS. 



243 



STINGS. 



along, usually, without any smoke, if you 
choose. It is much easier to handle a shal- 
low frame, without killing bees, than it is a 
tall one. 

"We should try to bear in mind that a sin- 
gle bee bears much the same relation to the 
colony as does one of our fingers or toes to 
us. If somebody carelessly or purposely 
pinches a toe or finger, self-preservation de- 
mands that we make him stop ; and if you 
crush a bee, the whole hive remonstrates 
and threatens ; in fact, they do this if you 
only give them reason to think they may be 
in danger of injury. Your business is to as- 
sure them by your careful and gentle move- 
ments that they need fear no injury from 
you, and then you will find them very pa- 
tient, and as tractable as any of our domestic 
animals. 

When I see a person opening a hive, I usu- 
ally watch him carefully, to see if he takes 
care to kill no bees. After the first frame is 
taken out, it must be placed somewhere. I 
believe the usual way is to stand it on end, 
leaning against the side of the hive. Now, 
the corner of the frame that rests on the 
ground is very apt to be covered with bees, 
and many, many times, after it has been put 
back in the hive, have I seen the maimed 
and mashed bodies of the little fellows, writh- 
ing in their death agonies. Do you blame 
bees for stinging when they are treated thus? 
Why will people be so careless and heedless 
of the comfort and life of the rest of the ani- 
mated creation? 74 

Within the last year, several devices, en- 
gravings of which we give below, have been 
suggested for the purpose of holding the 
first frame or frames, that the rest may be 
manipulated with greater ease. 

One of the simplest of these, made of fold- 
ed tin, and originated by myself, I have 
christened 




THE SIMPLICITY COMB-HOLDER. 

This is to be hooked over the edge of a 
Simplicity hive; and when the first frame 
is lifted out, you are to hang it on the two 
projecting arms. These are slightly turned 
up, as you will notice, that the frame may 
not easily be pulled or slipped off. If you 
are disposed, you can then slide the remain- 
ing frames along, so as to get at any partic- 
ular ope, with ease, 



To J. M. Valentine's comb-holder, which 
he has called a queen-stand, because used by 
him principally in queen - rearing, our en- 
graver has taken the liberty of adding a 
smoker, and a stool whereon the tired apia- 
rist may repose (?), while inserting queen- 
cells, etc. He has also hung an all metal- 
screw-driver on one of the posts, as you see, 
and a stout screw - driver is a very handy 
tool in an apiary, as most of you have prob- 
ably experienced. 




valentine's queen-stand. 

This is 24 inches high; the standards are VAx% in. ; 
a piece 1*4 in. square runs across the top to hold 
it together, and for a handle to lift it by ; the shelf 
is 12 inches wide, and is placed 4 inches below the 
bottom of the frame when hanging on the arms of 
the stand. This shelf is handy to lay cages, etc., on. 
There is a drawer 6x8x2 in. under the shelf, in which 
we keep a dozen, more or less, of queen - cages, a 
pair of small curved-pointed scissors, a slim sharp 
knife, etc. Our queen - stand (as we call it) weighs 
just 4 lbs. We leave it out in the bee-yard, as it is 
well painted, and a groove is cut around on the under 
side of the shelf so that no water can get into the 
drawer. When we are in the yard, and happen to 
want to look into a hive, the stand and its contents 
are ready near by. J. M. Valentine. 

Carlinville, 111. 

Another very convenient device is the fol- 
lowing, with a description by the originator. 




AN EASEL TO HOLD COMBS. 

The stand is made as follows: Take a cubic block, 

A, measuring four inches each way, and four strips 

of wood, B, 1J4 inches square by ft or 4 feet long; 



STINGS. 



244 



STINGS. 



nail these strips, one at each corner of the block, for 
legs; spread the lower ends about 18 inches apart, 
and secure them by nailing cross-pieces about half 
way down. In the middle of the top, or block, put a 
round nail, letting it project upward about 1!4 inches. 
This is for a pivot. Take three pieces of board, 
C, 4 inches wide; let the one for the bottom have 
the same length as the inside of your hive, and the 
other two for the sides have the same length as the 
height of the hive; nail the two side-pieces on the 
ends of the bottom - piece, and bore a hole in the 
center of the bottom-piece, large enough to tit the 
pivot in A; place this, C, on the stand, A, and you 
have a swivel; hang your frame in it, and you can 
hunt for your queen at leisure, turning C as you 
choose, without disturbing the bees in the least. If 
the bees cluster on C, it can be removed, and the 
cluster brushed into the hive. 

On the legs, little cleats may be nailed, on which 
to place additional frames if desired. We find our 
bee-easel a handy institution, and would not be with- 
out one. Moses G. Young. 

Brooklyn, N. Y., Aug. 29, 1878. 

Perhaps the simplest and cheapest of all 
these devices is the one sent us hy Mr. L. S. 
Jones, of New Philadelphia, O., which he 
has called the Simplicity comb - holder, and 
describes as below: 




JONES SIMPLICITY COMB-TIOLDER. 

It answers the purpose nicely, is very easy to 
make, and costs almost nothing. When I finished 
the invention, I imagined friend Root saying, "Well, 
now, that holder can be made and finished for about 
10 cents, perhaps 9'j, and the work ought to be well 
done at that price." 

HOW TO MAKE IT. 

Take a piece of % lumber, size 20x9'/2 inches; also 
cut two pieces, O'ixS'/i, and 3 4 inches thick; saw a 
rabbet Mx 3 » inches, in one end of each, in which 
tack a tin rabbet Vi in. high; nail these ends to the 
side-board; also nail on a thin bottom-board 20x2? 8 
inches; then fasten on two pieces of hoop iron and 
bend to hang on the Simplicity hive; finish by giv- 
ing it a good coat of paint, and you have one of the 
cheapest and handiest things about the apiary. 

While these implements are very handy, 
without question, they are more machinery 
to have around in the way. and it takes time 
to run after them and carry them about. I 
do not know but that I should prefer doing 
without them, but you will probably have 
different tastes and views in the matter. I 
have illustrated them, that you may be able 
to act according to your own judgment. If 
you decide to stand the first frame on the 
ground, be sure that you brush or drive all 
the bees off the corner that is to touch the 
ground. Be sure, also, that you set the 



frame at such an angle that it can not possi- 
bly fall over, or be blown down by the wind. 
On this account alone, I Would want wind- 
breaks of some kind, to keep off the pre- 
vailing winds. See Comb Bucket. 

If your colony is a small one, and the hive 
not full, the frames are very easily handled 
without killing bees ; if there is a division- 
board, it can be moved back a little, and the 
first frame set on the other side of it. All 
these things can be done very quickly, when 
you get used to it ; much quicker than you 
could take out a movable side to a hive. I 
believe experience has taught this with al- 
most every one that has used hives with mov- 
able sides. No matter how sanguine the in- 
ventor may be at first, that his hive is the 
one to prevent danger from stings, in a few 
years we find all such hives dropped and 
laid aside. 

WHAT KIND OF BEES STING WORST. 

The general decision is, that the pure Ital- 
ians are, as a rule, the most easily handled. 
Not only do they sting less, but as they keep 
their places on the combs without getting 
excited, when hives are properly opened, 
they are far less liable to get under one's 
clothing than the common bees. A great 
many stings are received from bees that are 
in no way badly disposed at all, simply by 
their getting pinched accidentally, while on 
the person of the bee-keeper. Pure Italians 
may be handled all day, with no such mis- 
hap ; but after working among blacks or hy- 
brids, I often find a dozen or more under my 
coat, up my sleeves, if they can get up, and, 
worst of all, up my trousers, if I have not. 
taken the precaution to tuck them into my 
boots, or stockings when I wear low shoes. 
See Bee-dress. Well, I believe this one 
thing alone would decide me in favor of the 
Italians, if they were simply equal to the 
blacks in other respects. The hybrids, as I 
have before stated, are much worse to sting 
than either of the races when pure. 

It may be well to add, that we find many 
exceptions to these rules ; a hive of blacks 
will sometimes be much easier to handle 
than a hive of Italians in the same yard, and 
the progeny of a queen that we may have 
every other reason to call pure, may be as 
cross as the worst hybrids. Still farther : A 
very cross swarm of bees may be so educat- 
ed, by careful treatment, as to become very 
gentle, and vice versa. The colony in front 
of the door of the honey - house is always a 
gentle one, season after season; the explana- 
tion of it is, that they become accustomed to 
the continual passing and repassing of the 



STINGS. 



245 



STINGS. 



bee-keeper in front of their hive, and learn 
to be dodging past some one almost all the 
time. On the contrary, those bees that are 
in the remote corners of the apiary are very 
apt to sting yon, if you just come round to 
take a view of their entrance. The Egyp- 
tian bees are said to be very much worse 
than any of the other races ; and as they do 
not yield to smoke, as do others, they 
have been discarded, principally on account 
of this unpleasant feature.* 

THE BEE-STING POISON. 

When bees are very angry, and elevate 
that portion of their bodies containing the 
sting, you will often see a tiny drop of some 
transparent liquid on the point of the sting. 
This liquid is the poison of the bee-sting. It 
has a sharp, pungent taste; and when thrown 
in the eyes, as often happens, it has a sting- 
ing, acrid feeling, as if it might be a com- 
pound of cayenne pepper, onion - juice, and 
horseradish combined, and one who tastes it 
or gets it in his eyes concludes it is not so 
very strange that such a substance, intro- 
duced into the circulation, produces such ex- 
quisite pain. The poison of the bee-sting 
has been shown to be similar in composition 
to that of the viper and scorpion ; but at the 
present writing I can not learn that any 
chemist has ever given us an analysis that 
would tell us just what the poison is. The 
acid obtained from ants is called formic acid, 
and I have wondered whether that from bee- 
stings is not similar, if not the same. It is 
probably a vegetable acid, secreted from the 
honey and pollen that constitutes their food, 
and it is well known that the poison is much 
more pungent when the bees are working in 
the fields, and accumulating stores largely, 
than it is when they are at rest in the winter 
months. It is generally during basswood- 
bloom that we get those severe stings which 
draw the blood and show a large white spot 
around the wound. 

HOW IT IS DONE. 

It is quite an interesting experiment to 
let a bee sting you on the hand, and then 
coolly observe the whole performance, with- 
out disturbing him. When a boy wishes to 
jump across a brook, he usually goes back a 
few feet, and takes a little run ; well, a bee, 
when he introduces the point of his sting, 
prefers to make a short run or dash, or he 
may fail in lodging the barbs of the sting se- 
curely in the flesh. I do not believe a bee 

*Queenless bees are almost always much worse; 
it may be because they seldom work with energy, 
and have therefore no fresh accumulation of stores, 
that tend so much to put bees on their good be- 
havior. 



can very well get up the necessary energy to 
sting, unless he is under the influence of 
some excitement. I have sometimes, in try- 
ing to see how far I could go with an angry 
colony of bees without the use of smoke, had 
a lot of them strike my face with a sudden 
dash; but as I kept perfectly still, they would 
alight without stinging. Now, the slightest 
movement, even an incautious breath, would 
result in some pretty severe stinging ; bat if 
I kept cool and quiet, and carefully walked 
away, I might escape without any stings at 
all. Very often, a single bee will work him- 
self up to a sufficient passion to try to sting ; 
but to commence while standing still, I have 
always found to be rather difficult work for 
them; and although they sometimes prick 
slightly, and give one a touch of the poison, 
they seldom sting very severely, without 
taking wing again. To go back : After the 
bee has penetrated the flesh on your hand, 
and worked the sting so deeply into the 
flesh as to be satisfied, he begins to find that 
he is a prisoner, and to consider means of 
escape. They usually get smashed at about 
this stage of proceedings, unless they suc- 
ceed in tearing the sting— poison-bag and all 
—from the body; however, if allowed to do 
the work quietly, they seldom do this, know- 
ing that such a proceeding seriously maims 
them for life, if it does not kill them. After 
pulling at the sting to see that it will not 
come out, he seems to consider the matter a 
little, and then commences to walk around 
it, in a circle, just as if it were a screw he 
was going to turn out of a board. If you 
will be patient and let him alone, he will get 
it out by this very process, and fly off un- 
harmed. I need not tell you that it takes 
some heroism to submit patiently to all this 
manoeuvring. The temptation is almost un- 
governable, while experiencing the intense 
pain, to say, while you give him a clip, 
"There, you little beggar, take that, and learn 
better manners in future." 

Well, how does every bee know that he 
can extricate his sting by walking around it? 
Some would say it is instinct. Well, I guess 
it is; but it seems to me, after all, that he 
"sort o' remembers" how his ancestors have 
behaved in similar predicaments for ages 
and ages past. 

ODOR OF THE BEE-STING POISON. 

After one bee has stung you, if you use the 
hand that has been stung among the bees in 
the hive, the smell of the poison, or some- 
thing else, will be pretty sure to get more 
stings for you, unless you are very careful. 
Also after one sting has been inflicted, there 
16 



STINGS. 



216 



STINGS. 



seems ;i much greater chance, when about 
in the apiary, of getting more stings. Mr. 
Quinby has suggested that this is owing to 
the smell of the poison, and that the use of 
smoke will neutralize this scent. This may 
be so, but I am not fully satisfied of it. 

THE POISON OF THE BEE-STING AS A REME- 
DIAL AGENT. 

For some years past there have been run- 
ning through our journals many reports in 
regard to the agency of bee-stings in the 
cure of certain forms of diseases, especially 
rheumatism. From the facts put forth, I 
think any candid reasoner will have to ad- 
mit, that being stung frequently does certain- 
ly have the effect of relieving certain forms 
of rheumatism, paralysis, and perhaps drop- 
sy. It is true, the open-air exercise may 
have something to do with it ; but I believe 
the poison of the sting itself often gives al- 
most immediate relief in the diseases above 
mentioned. I may add here, that it is well 
known that homeopatliists use bee-sting poi- 
son as a remedial agent, under the name of 
Apis mellifica. In their hands it is one of 
the most useful of all remedies in the treat- 
ment of (edematous and dropsical conditions 
of the cellular tissue, skin, serous and mu- 
cous membranes, and the glandular system. 
In fact, a short time ago friend Muth, of 
Cincinnati, informed me that he had sold a 
good many colonies of live Italians to doc- 
tors, for the sole purpose of extracting the 
poison. If I am correct, they extract the 
poison by means of alcohol. As the demand 
for this medicine seems to be on the in- 
crease, it were reasonable to conclude there 
is no myth about it. 

DOES THE BEE DIE AFTER LOSING HIS STING? 

It seems strange after all that has been 
written about it, that nobody seems to know 
whether the bee dies or not. I know it does 
not die right away after losing its sting, for 
I have kept them some time in confinement, 
afterward, and could not see but they flew 
off just as well as bees that had not lost their 
sting. I am inclined to think they live and 
gather honey after the sting is gone, but they 
probably never do much more in the sting- 
ing line. The matter might be tested by 
painting the backs of a number of bees 
which have lost their stings, as we do in bee- 
hunting. If you find them day after day in 
the hive, and see them with loads of pollen, 
we will then know that losing their stings 
does not spoil them for other duties. I have 
often identified certain bees, both in the 
hive and on the alighting-board, as they came 
in from the fields. 



SMOKE NOT ALWAYS A PREVENTIVE OF BEE- 
STINGS. 

Although smoke is our great reliance as a 
security against stings while working among 
bees, there are sometimes colonies, or sea- 
sons of the year, I scarcely know which, 
when one can get along better without it. I 
remember trying to open a colony of hybrids 
in the fall of the year, to show them to my 
wife. As a safeguard, I first gave them a 
good-smoking ; but, to my surprise, they got 
into a perfect panic, and poured out of the 
hive and showed fight, in great numbers. It 
is true, I could drive them down ; but the 
minute I ceased smoking them, to lift out a 
comb, they became perfectly infuriated; and 
although driven down to the bottom - board 
repeatedly, they were up and ready for an 
attack, almost as soon as the smoker was 
turned away from the hive. I let them go, 
without half making the examination I 
wished. The next day, in passing the hive, 
I thought I would look in, and see if they 
were of the same opinion still. I had no 
smoker, and so raised the corner of the cloth 
over the frames cautiously. They kept on 
with their work, and seemed to care nothing 
about the intrusion. I took the cloth clear 
off, lifted frame after frame, but not a bee 
showed the least sign of hostility. In sur- 
prise, I carried a frame with the queen on it 
into the house and showed it to my wife, and 
told her it was the same swarm that acted 
so wickedly, just the day before. The only 
trouble seemed to be that they very decided- 
ly objected to having their hive deluged with 
the offensive smoke, and I am sure it must 
be very painful to them in its effects. I took 
the lesson, and have since often found that 
I could get along even better without smoke. 
Have your smoker in readiness; and if you 
are obliged to use smoke, use a very little, as 
circumstances seem to decide best. Some- 
times the only way seems to be to use it in 
considerable quantities, but I would never 
smoke the poor little fellows needlessly. 75 

MECHANICAL CONSTRUCTION AND OPERA- 
TION OF THE STING. 

After a bee has stung you, and torn him- 
self away from the sting, you will no- 
tice, if you look closely, a bundle of muscles, 
near by and partly enveloping the poison- 
bag. Well, the curious part of it is, that for 
some considerable time after the sting has 
been detached from the body of the bee, 
these muscles will work with a kind of pump- 
like motion, working the sting further into 
the wound, as if they had a conscious ex- 
istence, and burned with a desire to wreak 
vengeance on the party attacked. Nay, fur- 



STINGS. 



247 



STINGS. 



ther, after the sting has been pulled, from 
the flesh, and thrown away, if it should stick 
to your clothing in such a way that your 
flesh will come in contact with it, it will 
commence working again, pulling itself into 
the flesh, and emptying the poison into the 
wound, precisely as if the living bee were 
himself working it. I have been stung a 
great many times from a sting without any 
bee about it at all. Without any precise fig- 
ures, I should say a sting would hold life 
enough to give a very painful wound, as long 
as full five minutes, and it may be, in some 
cases, even ten minutes. This phenomenon 
is most wonderful, and I have often, while 
watching the sting sink into the rim of my 
felt hat, pondered on that wonderful thing, 
animal life. Why should that isolated sting 
behave in this manner, when the bee to 
which it belonged was perhaps far away, 
buzzing through the air? Why should this 
bundle of fibers and muscles behave as if it 
had a life to throw away? I do not know. 
This, however, I do know ; when you pull a 
sting from the wound, you should throw it 
far enough away so that it will not get back 
on your face or hands, or into your hair, to 
sting you again. 

In giving the following description of a 
bee-sting, I am much indebted to the draw- 
ings and description given by J. K. Bledsoe, 
of Natchez, Mississippi, in the American Bee 
Journal for August, 1870. I am also in- 
debted to Prof. Cook's excellent Manual, 
for hints on this as well as on many other 
subjects. As friend Cook is an entomolo- 
gist, he has been enabled to give us very 
material aid in that department. Friend 
Bledsoe has given us by far the most com- 
plete description and drawings, and I have 
just been trying, with a good microscope, to 
verify his work. Although I have not been 
able to verify all his work, probably because 
I lack the necessary skill in making dissec- 
tions, I have found some items which I 
think have not before been given, and I 
have made some changes that I think bring 
the matter nearer the truth. 

The sting under the microscope is found 
to be a beautifully fashioned and polished 
instrument, whose delicate taper and finish 
make a most surprising contrast with any 
instrument man has been able to produce. 
In shape it appears to be round ; but it is, in 
reality, more like a three-cornered file, with 
the corners nicely rounded off. It is of a dark 
red color, but transparent enough so that 
we may see the hollow that runs through 
the center of each of its parts. These hol- 



lows are probably to secure lightness 
well as strength. 




BEE STING MAGNIFIED. 

I have given you three views of the differ- 
ent parts of the sting, like letters represent- 
ing like parts in all. Bear in mind that the 
sting proper is composed of three parts— the 
outer shell, or husk, D, and two barbed spears 
that slide partly inside of it. In Fig. 2 I 
have shown you the spears. The barbs are 
much like the barbs on a fish - hook ; and 
when the point of one spear, A, penetrates 
far enough to get one barb under the skin, 
the bee has made a hold, and has no difficul- 
ty in sinking his sting its whole length into 
the wound ; for the pumping motion at once 
commences, and the other spear, B, slides 
down a little beyond A, then A beyond B, 
and so on. The manner in which these 
spears are worked is, as near as I can make 
out, by a pair of something like pump-han- 
dles, operated by small but powerful mus- 
cles. I have shown you the arrangement of 
these handles at J and K, Fig. 1, as nearly 
as I could conjecture what it must be, from 
watching its workings under the microscope. 
These muscles will work, at intervals, for 
some time after the sting has been torn from 
the bee, as I have explained. They work 
with sufficient power to send the sting 
through a felt hat, or into a tough buckskin 
glove. I have often watched the bee while 
attempting to get his sting started into the 



STINGS. 



Ms 



SUMAC. 



hard cuticle on the inside of my hand. The 
spears will often run along the surface diag- 
onally, so that you can see how it works down 
by successive pumps. The hollow in these 
spears is indicated at G and F, in Figs. 2 
and 3. 

Fig. 3 is a transverse section, sliced across 
the three parts, at about the dotted line D. 
A and B are the barbed spear* ; F and G, 
the hollows to give them lightness and 
strength; H, II, the barbs. It will be ob- 
served that the husk, D, incloses but little 
more than i of them. Now, the purpose of 
this husk is to hold the barbs in place, and 
to allow them to slide easily up and down, 
also to direct them while doing this work. 
To hold all together, there is a groove in 
each of the spears, and a corresponding pro- 
jection in the husk, which fit each other, as 
shown in the cut. This allows the barbs to 
project to do their work, and yet holds all 
together tolerably firm. I say tolerably firm, 
for these spears are very easily torn out of 
the husk ; and after a sting is extracted, they 
are often left in the wound, like the tiny 
splinters I have before spoken of. When 
torn out and laid on a slip of glass, they are 
scarcely visible to the naked eye ; but under 
the microscope, they show as seen in Fig. 2. 

Stings do not all have the same number 
of barbs. I have seen as few as 7 and as 
many as 9. The two spears fit nicely against 
eacli other, as shown in Fig. 3, and you will 
observe that the shape and the arrangement 
of the 3 parts leave the hollow, E, in their 
center. This hollow is for a channel for this 
wonderful vegetable poison. The working 
of the spears also pumps down poison, and 
quite a good-sized drop collected on the 
points of the spears while I saw them work- 
ing under the microscope. Friend Bledsoe 
found a valve that let the poison out of the 
poison-bag into this wonderful little pump, 
but prevented it from returning. I have 
not been able to see this, but have no doubt 
that it ie there. The drop of poison, after 
it has laid on the glass a few minutes, dries 
down, and seems to leave a gummy sub- 
stanoe, that crystallizes, as it were, into 
strange and beautiful forms. I have tried 
to show it to you in Fig. 4. 

There are some things about the bee- 
sting, I should much like to know. How do 
the muscles work those levers so as to make 
them pass and repass as they do? Is the 
poison acid, perhaps formic acid ? If not, 
what is it? 

I can not close the subject of stings, with- 
out speaking of the wonderful similarity be- 
tween the mechanism of the sting of the 



bee, and the apparatus furnished many in- 
sects for sawing and boring into Avood and 
other substances, for the purpose of deposit- 
ing their eggs. Almost precisely the same 
apparatus is used, but the barbs on the ex- 
tremities are saws instead of the sharp 
hooks. If you will look at the cut you will 
see that but very little change need be made 
in these barbs to convert them into saw- 
teeth, and then we should have an engine 
for cutting and boring holes, that might eas- 
ily be patented, if old dame Nature were so 
disposed. Now listen. If the insect had 
but one saw, even though he had strength to 
draw it back and forth, his light body would 
not give him purchase enough to do much 
execution with it. It is true, he might " dig 
in his toe-nails," and hold himself down so 
that he could w r ork it to some extent ; but 
then he could not change his position, ac- 
cording to his work, etc. When the saw was 
worked, instead of its cutting into the hard 
timber, his light body would be simply slid 
to and fro; but with two saws, like the 
barbed spears of the bee-sting, working in a 
sheath to hold them together, he can stand 
his ground and use his enormous muscular 
strength to do rapid cutting, even if his body 
does weigh only half a grain, or less. 
While one saw goes forward, the other goes 
backward ; and the rapidity with which these 
insects work them enables them to make as- 
tonishing progress, even in substances so 
hard that one would not suppose they could 
make any impression at all. Now here 
comes in again the wonderful law I have 
spoken of so many times, on these pages. 
The insect that has the most effective and 
perfect set of tools will lay most eggs and 
have them most secure from the depreda- 
tion of enemies, and his species will stand a 
better chance of survival than the individ- 
ual or class with poorer tools. By giving a 
constant preference to the best workers, and 
taking into account how nature sports and 
varies, would it be strange, if , after the lapse 
of ages, the result should be the beautifully 
finished work we see through the micro- 
scope? I do not know that bee-stings could 
develop into saws, or saws into bee-stings; 
but if an insect should be found using its 
ovipositor as a weapon of defense, as well as 
for the purpose of egg-laying, it might look 
as though the thing were possible. I am 
not an entomologist, and I do not know that 
any such insect has ever been discovered. 
Who will enlighten us? 

SUMAC (Bhus). This is a sort of 
shrub, or small tree, readily known by its 



SUKFLOWER. 



249 



SWARMING. 



bunches of bright red fruit, having an in- 
tensely sour taste. The acid property, how- 
ever, seems to be only on the surface of the 
fruit, in the red dust that may be brushed 
off. I have had no experience with the hon- 
ey, which the bees sometimes get in large 
quantities from the small greenish flowers, 
but give the following from page 96, Glean- 
ings for 1874 : 

June 22, 1874.— Contrary to expectations, we are 
now in the height of a wonderful flow of honey from 
sumac, which of late years has not yielded much. 
Every thing in the hives is filled full, and 1 am kept 
busy hiving swarms, as it has become too much of a 
job to keep them from swarming by removing 
frames of brood. G. F. Mekriam, Topeka, Kan. 

SUNFLOWER [Helianlhus). This 
plant embraces a very large family; but the 
principal ones for honey are the common 
sunflower and the Jerusalem artichoke. 
During some seasons and in some localities, 
the bees seem to be very busy indeed on 
these plants, all the clay long. The mam- 
moth Russian sunflower bears flowers of 
enormous dimensions; and from the way 
the bees crowd each other about the necta- 
ries, one would suppose they yielded much 
honey. The seed, which is yielded in large 
quantities, would seem almost to pay the ex- 
pense of cultivation. The following is taken 
from page 36, Vol. III. of Gleanings. 

My boy had a small box of sunflower seeds, which 
he kept as one of his playthings. Last spring he ac- 
cidentally spilt them in the garden by the fence, 
and, old as they were, they came up prof usely. They 
looked so thrifty, 1 took it into my head to trans- 
plant them. I set them all around in the fence, out 
of the way, where nothing else would grow to advan- 
tage, and, if you will believe me, I had an enormous 
crop. When they blossomed the bees went at them 
in earnest ; and after the bees got through with them 
there were several quarts of seed. I sold a dollar's 
worth to my druggist, and the remainder 1 fed out to 
my hens, and, as a writer of old has said, I found 
nothing so good and nourishing for laying hens as 
sunflower seeds. Then I cut off the empty heads, 
place them near the bee-hives, fill them with sugar 
and water, and that suits the bees to a T. So you 
see I was at no expense, and they paid well. I write 
this that others may be benefited as well as myself. 
Dr. R. Hitchcock. 

South Norwalk, Conn., Feb. 2, 1875. 

SWARMING-. All animated nature 
seems to have some means of reproducing 
its like, that the species may not become ex- 
tinct ; and, especially among the insect 
tribes, we find a great diversity of ways and 
means for accomplishing this object. In the 
microscopic world we find simple forms of 
animal life contracting themselves in the 
middle until they break in two, and then 
each separate part, after a time, breaks in 
two, and so on. With bees we have a some- 



what similar phenomenon. When a colony 
gets excessively strong, the inmates of the 
hive, by a sort of preconcerted, mutual agree- 
ment, divide themselves off into two parties, 
one party remaining in the old hive, and the 
other starting out to seek their fortunes else- 
where. 76 

I have carefully watched this proceeding, 
with a view of determining how the matter 
conies about, and whether it is because a 
part of the bees become dissatisfied with 
their old home, and seek to better their con- 
dition, or because the queen leaves, for some 
reason of her own (because she has not room 
to lay her eggs, for instance), and the bees 
simply follow from a sort of natural instinct, 
because she is the mother of the colony, and 
an absolute necessity to their prosperity. 
After seeing a number of swarms issue, and 
finding that the queen was among the last to 
leave the hive, I concluded that the bees 
take the lead, and that the queen simply fol- 
lowed as a matter of course, in the general 
melee. Suppose, however, that the queen 
should not take a notion to join the new ad- 
venture ; well, swarms do often start out 
with no queen accompanying them, and they 
usually go back to the hive after a time, to 
try it again next day. If she does not go 
then, nor at the next attempt, they often 
wait until they can rear a new queen, and 
then go off with her. After I was pretty 
well satisfied that this is the correct idea of 
their plan, a little circumstance seemed to 
upset it all. A neighbor, wanting to make 
an observatory-hive, drummed perhaps a 
quart of bees from one of his old hives. As 
he had no queen, I gave him a black queen 
taken from a hive purchased several miles 
away. I mention this to show that the queen 
had never been out of the hive, in the loca- 
tion which it then occupied. After a day or 
two, this neighbor informed me that I had 
played a fine trick on him, for my queen had 
gone home, and taken his quart of bees with 
her. I told him it was impossible, for she 
had never been out of the hive, only when I 
carried her over in the cage. 

We went and looked in the hive she came 
from, and there she was, true enough, with 
the bees she had brought with her stung to 
death, in front and on the bottom-board. It 
is possible that the bees swarmed out first ; 
but even if they did, they certainly followed 
the queen in going back to her old home. 
We also know that bees sometimes follow 
a young queen when she goes out to take 
her wedding-flight. 

It is my opinion that it is neither the queen 
nor the workers alone that make the first 



SWARMING. 



250 



SWARMING. 



start but that all hands join together and 
act in concert. 

WIIY BEES SWARM. ( 

If you can contract the size of the hive 
when honey is coming in bountifully, the 
bees will be very apt to take measures 
toward swarming, about as soon as the 
combs are full of brood, eggs, pollen, and 
honey. They will often wait several days 
after the hive is seemingly full, and this 
course may not cause them to swarm at all, 
but it is very likely to. As soon as it lias 
been decided that the hive is too small, and 
that there is no feasible place for storing an 
extra supply of honey where it can be pro- 
cured in the winter, when needed, they gen- 
erally commence queen-cells. Before doing 
this I have known them to go so far as to 
store their honey outside on the portico, or 
even underneath the hive, thus indicating 
most clearly their wants in the shape of ex- 
tra space for their stores, where they could 
protect them. 

I believe want of room is the most genera] 
cause of swarming, although it is not the 
only cause ; for bees often swarm incessant- 
ly, when they have a hive only partly tilled 
with comb. First swarms usually come 
about from the cause I have mentioned; but 
After-swarming (which see) often gets to 
be a sort of mania with the bees, and they 
swarm, apparently, without a reason. 

AT WIIAT SEASON BEES USUALLY SWARM. 

The old adage runs,— 

" A swarm of bees in May 

Is worth a load of hay; 

A swarm of bees in June 

Is worth a silver spoon; 

A swarm of bees in July 

Is not worth a fly." 
There is much truth in this, especially if 
managed on the old plan ; but with modern 
improvements, a swarm in July may be 
worth a silver spoon, or even a load of hay; 
possibly, both together. See After-swarm- 
ing. A colony that was very populous in 
the fall, and has wintered finely, may cast 
the first swarm in May, in this latitude ; but 
such events were very unusual before the 
advent of Italians. The latter often swarm 
during fruit-bloom, and in some cases even 
earlier. In our locality, swarms do not usu- 
ally issue until the middle or last of June. 
If the season is a little late, sometimes the 
greater part of them will come in July, and 
we almost always have more or less swarm- 
ing going on during our national holiday. 
At this time, basswood is generally at its 
height, and we frequently have quite a yield 



from clover, after basswood is gone. On 
this account, swarms that come out during 
the first week in July usually get enough to 
winter, and are therefore worth the price of 
a swarm of bees any way. I presume the old 
adage referred, principally, to the amount of 
honey they would store ; if the July swarms 
did not secure enough to winter over, and 
were allowed to starve, they would not be 
worth the trouble of hiving them, and so 
they might be rated as of less value than a 
fly. Swarms that come out in June would 
fill their hives, and perhaps make a surplus 
that, on an average, would bring at least a 
dollar, the old price of a silver spoon ; while 
those that were so thrifty as to be able to 
start in May, would have the whole season 
before them; and if they did not get set back 
before Avhite clover came out, would very 
likely make a surplus worth $5.00, the mar- 
ket price of a load of hay. In some locali- 
ties, bees seem to swarm in the latter part of 
July and Aug., and reports seem to indicate 
that they do it when little or no honey is to 
be had, and when the bees are disposed to 
rob ; but such is certainly not the case here, 
for our bees give up all preparations for 
swarming, some little time before the honey- 
crop has ceased. I do not remember ever to 
have seen a natural swarm issue here later 
than July; but in some localities, buckwheat 
swarms are a very common thing. Where 
the apiarist has plenty of extra combs filled 
with stores, it is an easy matter to care for 
and make valuable stocks of swarms that is- 
sue at any time. 

SYMPTOMS OF SWARMING. 

Although we can sometimes tell when 
bees are going to swarm, I do not think it 
will be safe, by any means, to assume that 
we can always do so. It has been said, that 
the bees which have been clustering outside 
will, all the morning of the day they are in- 
tending to swarm, go inside the hive ; but 
this can not always be so, for I have seen a 
swarm issue while the loafers were hanging 
on the outside as usual ; and at the sound of 
the swarming-note, they took wing and join- 
ed in. Where a colony is intending to swarm, 
they will not be working like the rest, as a 
general thing ; and quite likely, on the day 
they are intending to swarm, very few bees, 
comparatively, will be seen going out and in 
at the hive. 77 With movable combs we can 
generally give a very good guess of the dis- 
position to swarm, by opening the hive.' 
Bees do not, as a rule, swarm until they have 
got their hive pretty well filled up, and have 
multitudes of young bees hatching out daily. 






SWARMIXG. 



SWARMIHG. 



. The presence of queen-cells is generally con- 
sidered an indication of the swarming fever, 
and it used to be supposed that there was no 
danger of swarming unless these were pre- 
ent in the hive ; but since so many stocks of 
Italians have swarmed when nothing in the 
shape of a queen-cell was to be found in the 
hive, the idea of removing queen-cells, to 
arrest or prevent swarming, has been to a 
great extent abandoned. 

Many think that the clustering of the bees 
on the outside of the hives is an indication 
that they are going to swarm. To a certain 
extent this may be the case, but it is by no 
means an indication that they are going to 
swarm very soon. I knew a colony, belong- 
ing to a neighbor, that hung out in great 
masses nearly a month, before the bees came 
out. His new hive was in readiness, and he 
stayed at home and watched day after day, 
until clover and basswood both were almost 
gone, and finally they cast a truly large, fine 
swarm. 

NEVER ALLOW BEES TO HANG OUTSIDE TIIE 
HIVE. 

This swarm had hung outside the hive 
during the great honey-harvest of the sea- 
son; and as it is no unusual thing for a colo- 
ny to store 10 lbs. a day, during the height 
of the season, they had lost at least 100 lbs. 
of honey, for the swarm was an unusually 
strong and fine one. I think they could eas- 
ily have secured this amount if they had 
worked, but it is by no means certain that 
they could have been made to go to work 
as they did after they swarmed, and were 
put into a new hive. Within two or three 
weeks after they swarmed, if I remember, 
they filled their hive, and gave about 2o lbs. 
of surplus. How shall we deal with such 
bees? Well, it will be an excellent problem 
for our ABC class to work out by actual 
practice. One way is to put section boxes 
on the /top and sides, and then drive the bees 
inside ' with your smoker, and thus make 
them go to work, if you can. If they will 
not do so, get from some other hive some 
sections partly filled, and this will generally 
accomplish the object. If the bees are in a 
box hive, and you can not at the time trans- 
fer them (it is rather unsafe to transfer dur- 
ing a great honey-yield, with the hive full of 
honey, you know), fix a new hive all right, 
move away your old box hive, brushing all 
the bees off on the ground, and then give 
them a queen or a frame of brood in the new 
hive, as in Artificial Swarming, and 
make them go to work at something. You 
can do it every time, although it may be a 



few days before they get over their stub- 
bornness, and get to work fully. Sometimes 
a very large new swarm will hang out, and 
refuse to work. I have several times made 
such go in and attend to business, simply by 
the use of a smoker. If bees hang out dur- 
ing the hot weather of Aug., after honey has 
ceased coming, you can still set them to 
work by feeding ; but unless you want more 
colonies, more combs built out, or can rear 
queens for sale, it may not pay to try to keep 
them at work. Toward night, after very 
sultry days, bees will sometimes hang out so 
as to cover their hives, and there may be no 
harm in allowing them to do this, although I 
should prefer to have them better occupied 
by doing something indoors. A really en- 
ergetic colony will often be at work rearing 
brood at such a time, if they are gathering 
honey enough. Bees should always have 
room enough during the working season, to 
prevent their being crowded out; but we 
should not go to the opposite extreme, and 
give them so much that they feel cold drafts 
in their hive, and can not keep up sufficient 
heat for comb-building and brood-rearing. 

PREPARATIONS FOR SWARMING, TO BE MADE 
BY TIIE BEE-KEEPER. 

Every apiarist, even if he have but a cou- 
ple of hives, should make preparations for 
swarming, at least to some extent ; for, even 
though artificial swarming is practiced, and 
the utmost care used to prevent any other, 
there will always be a chance that swarms 
may come out unexpectedly. Hives should 
be in readiness, and at least one should be 
fixed on the stand where you wish your next 
colony placed. Bank it round with cinders 
and sand, and fix as nioe and level as if it con- 
tained bees. Have some extra combs if pos- 
sible, and have them placed in the honey- 
house where you can put your hand on 
them at any minute. I would also have some 
hives where I could get a comb of unsealed 
larvae, without very much trouble ; that is, 
make up your mind what hive you are to go 
to, in case you should want such a comb in 
a hurry. Bees will often swarm on Sunday; 
and as we would not wish to work with our 
bees on the Sabbath more than is absolutely 
necessary, it behooves us to be at all times 
prepared to take care of a swarm, should it 
come, with very little trouble. I can re- 
member having swarms on Sunday, when it 
became necessary to hunt up a hive, decide 
on its location, hunt up some empty combs, 
and then look over my hives to see where 
there was one with no surplus boxes on, that 
I might get at a brood - comb with as little 



SWARMING. 



SWARMING. 



trouble as possible, to put in the new hive, 
to prevent them from decamping. All these 
things take time, and more than one swarm 
have departed while a hive was being made 
ready to receive them. If you keep the 
wings of your queens clipped as I have ad- 
vised, you will need some queen-cages where 
you can lay your hands on them at a min- 
ute's notice, for there are times when you 
need to step about as lively as you would if 
a house were on fire, and you do not want to 
be bothered by hunting for things. 

N. N. Shepard, of Cochranton, Pa., gives 
a plan of an apparatus for hiving swarms, 
with some excellent instructions for using 
it. Below we give the letter with an engrav- 
ing of the swarming-box : 

SWARMS AND SWARMING; HOW TO MANAGE. 

For the first two or three years of my bee-keeping:, 
when I had only from 10 to 30 colonies, I lost by hav- 
ing swarms leave me, also by having large first 
swarms go together when they came out nearly at 
the same time. After years of experience and 
practice, I have learned that I can prevent both 
their going to the woods and their going together; 
and for the last five or six years, though I have in- 
creased my number to 100 swarms, and, some sea- 
sons, to 200, 1 have not lost a swarm, nor had two 
large swarms get together; but this result I could 
never have reached, except by the help of certain 
implements which I use in swarming-time. 

With these I can attend to 100 colonies as easily 
as I could to 20 without them, and, at the same 
time, be more sure of keeping them separate. With 
these I can hive all my swarms and stand on the 
ground; I cut no limbs off, and I brush no bees from 
bodies and large limbs of trees. Let them swarm 
as fast as they please, 10 or 15 in an hour, I can take 
care of them, and keep them all separate, and it is 
only fun. I do not dread the " everlasting swarm- 
ing." 



With these you need not wait for all the bees to 
alight, but when one-half or one-third have clustered, 
hold the box close under them, and, with the hook, 
jar the limb once or twice, holding your box still, 
and you will soon have them all out, and into it. 
Then if another swarm comes, carry off these, in the 
box, to a safe distance, or let them down and cover 
them closely with a sheet. The other swarm will 
nearly always alight on the same limb. I have taken 
as many as 6 off the same limb, setting away the 
box with each swarm, until I could get time to hive 
them. Then, to prevent their alighting in places 
where they are hard to get at, and much time is re J 
quired to hive them, I have one or two long poles 
with a bunch of grass tied tightly on the end. Put 
this in any place where they first commence alighting, 
and keep it in motion for a few moments, and they 
will leave for some other place. 

When the swarm is all clustered in the box, you 
can hive them at your leisure. Let them down 
carefully, holding the box horizontally until you 
get them where you want to shake them by the side 
of the hive or into it, then turn it so the open end is 
down, jar or shake them out just as you choose, and 
the work is done, only you must be constantly on 
the lookout for other swarms coming out to get 
with them. Have 3 or 4 good sheets where you can 
get them in a moment, if needed to cover a swarm. 
N. N. Sbepard. 

Cochranton, Pa., April 22, 1878. 

The remark about having the sheets ready 
for covering the extra swarms, is excellent ; 
and not only the sheets, but your poles, 
boxes, queen-cages, empty hives, and every 
thing which you have learned by experience 
you may need, should be kept in a neat 
handy place, a small neat shed, for in- 
stance, such a place as would be always eas- 
ily " get-at-able," and would protect the 
utensils sufficiently from the weather. I 
think I will have our engraver give us a 
view of such a— 




SHEPAItD S HIVING BOX FOR SWARMS. 

My hiving apparatus is a box made of !i-iiich 
basswood boards, about 8 inches square by lti 
inches deep; one end is closed, and the other < pen. 
This should be nailed together so as to be as strong 
as possible, then with a % bit bore it full of holes 
on each side. Put this on the end of a pole which is 
light and yet Strong enough to let down a large 
swarm and not break. A straight-grained pine or 
basswood stick 1% inches square will answer; take 
off the corners, bore a 154-inch hole through the cen- 
ter of the box, and fasten it on tiyht. Then you 
want a pole of corresponding length, with a strong 
hook fastened to the end of it. This is one set for 
hiving. I want 6 or 8 of these, if I have 80 or 100 
colonies. 




REPOSITORY FOR SWARiUTNG-rMPLEMENTS. 

It is quite customary, in hiving swarms, to 
spread a sheet in front of the hive, that the 
bees may have a clean path to walk in on. 
This white background also gives one an 
excellent opportunity to see the queen; and 
if they are too slow in getting into the hive 
the corners of the sheet may be raised, and 



SWARMING. 



253 



SWARMING. 



the bees shaken toward the entrance. As 
the fiber of the sheet gives them a chance 
to cling to it, I have liked much better, for 
this purpose, a large newspaper; for the 
bees can be shaken from it as readily as if 
they had no claws with which to hang and 
cling to every thing in the shape of cloth. 

The bush or hiving-box may be laid in 
front of the hive, or the bees may be gently 
jarred from it in front of the hive, as may 
be most convenient ; but with cross hybrids 
I prefer the former way, for I have known 
them, at times, to take wing and leave when 
suddenly shaken on the ground; and at oth- 
er times they will take a notion to sting, 
right and left. In this respect, the Italians 
are widely different from the common bees, 
for I have never known a swarm of the lat- 
ter to make an attack, or start off when sha- 
ken down in front of the hive. For these 
reasons I would advise hiving the Italians, 
and especially hybrids, in as quiet a manner 
as possible; and, where it can be done, by 
letting them run into their hive at their 
leisure. 

One of our hands uses an apparatus for 
catching awarms, as shown below. 




The hoop is made of stout wire, and is 
about 20 inches in diameter. The ends are 
soldered into a tin socket that will receive a 
rake-handle, or, for tall trees, something still 
longer. The bag is to be put up under the 
swarm, and the hoop is then made to gently 
cut off the cluster so that the bees will fall 
into the bag. It is then turned edgewise, so 
as to confine them while it is taken down 
and carried to the hive. As the bag is made 
of cheese-cloth, they have plenty of air. To 
get the bees out, turn it inside out. The 
bag has the same diameter as the hoop, and 
is about four feet long. The whole appara- 
tus would cost about 75c. This machine an- 
swers very well where the cluster hangs 
straight downward ; but where they get 
among the small limbs of trees, and in in- 
convenient places, the basswood box is the 
handiest, and I am inclined to give it the 
preference, as a general thing. 

HOW TO HIVE A SWARM OF BEES. 

The great secret of this depends much on 
keeping in mind the queer propensity, in- 
stinct, or habit, which bees have when clus- 



tered together in swarming, of running 
eagerly into any cavity, box, or hollow that 
may present itself. It was this queer fash- 
ion that first attracted my attention to the 
subject of bees. I have mentioned the cir- 
cumstance in the introduction to this book. 
My friend, when he started after the bees, 
picked up a rough box that lay near by; and 
when they came to the ground, he simply set 
the box near them. Seeing the cavity or 
shelter offered them, they at once com- 
menced humming, and traveled into it. My 
curiosity was unsatisfied, and I asked him 
how he knew they would go into the box. 
He said he knew they would, because bees 
always go into a box, or any similar thing 
that offers them shelter. 

Their instinct seems to prompt them to 
seek any sort of a cavity, and this very point 
is the secret of the success of friend Shep- 
ard's swarming-box. Those auger-holes in 
the basswood box are sure to attract them, 
and they seem to hugely enjoy crawling 
in, and then crawling out again, through the 
holes, beginning at once to claim it as their 
home, and being doubtless the better pleased 
with it because it has so many cool door- 
ways where they can look out and get the 
fresh air in abundance, which they always 
need when the swarming fever is on them, 
and every bee is gorged with honey with 
which to commence provisioning the new 
home. In fact, their first act, when getting 
ready to swarm, is to repair to the unsealed 
stores of honey, and fill themselves with all 
they can contain. I do not know how they 
always behave after being thus filled; but in 
the few instances when I have been right on 
hand when the swarm issued, I have seen, 
them commence to circle about the inside of 
the hive with uplifted wings, uttering the 
swarming-note until finally they began to 
issue from the hive. As they go tumbling 
out pell-mell, hurry-skurry, like a lot of ur- 
chins when school is out on a summer's aft- 
ernoon, they seem, for the time, to have but 
one Object in life, and that is to get as far 
and as speedily away from their home as 
possible. 

HOW TO HIVE A SWARM WITH A CLIPPED 
QUEEN. 

By turning to Queens, you will see what 
I say about clipping the wings of every 
queen as soon as she becomes fertile ; if we 
do this, our queen can not take wing, as she 
usually does as soon as she gets out of the 
hive (she is generally nearly the last to come 
out.), but hops helplessly on the ground. If 
you are on hand, pick her up as soon as she 
makes her appearance, and cage her. As 



SWARMING. 



254 



SWARMING. 



soon as the bees are all out, move the hive 
to a new stand, put a new hive in its place, 
and lay the caged queen down close by the 
entrance. The bees, as soon as they discov- 
er that the queen is not with them, will 
come back to their old stand, and enter the 
new hive. When they are going in nicely, 
release the queen and let her go in with 
them. All this is very simple, and we have 
practiced the plan quite extensively. To 
let the new swarm go to work at once, and 
prevent any probability of absconding, we 
give them a single comb containing eggs 
and larva?, and fdl Out the rest of the hive 
with frames of fdn. The bees usually com- 
mence coming back in about 5 or 10 min- 
utes ; but they may cluster and remain away 
15 minutes, or, in extreme cases, as much as 
a half-hour. 

They will always come back sooner or lat- 
ter, so far as I have been able to learn, un- 
less they have an extra queen, or get another 
queen by uniting with another colony, or 
something of that sort. See Absconding 
Swarms. If you do not find the queen as 
she comes out of the hive, and she has a 
clipped wing, you may be pretty certain that 
she will come back. After-swarms (which 
see) have unfertile queens, and consequent- 
ly their wings can not be clipped. If you 
see them when they come out, and succeed 
in catching them, you can often hive the 
swarms in the same way; but the young 
queen will sometimes put right out again, 
and you must expect her to show all sorts of 
eccentric manoeuvres. 

If you do not wish to move the old stock 
away, you can tie the caged queen to the 
end of a pole, with some leafy twigs near 
her, and usually succeed, without much 
trouble, in getting the bees to cluster around 
her. We have usually kept on hand for this 
purpose, a common rake, with a bush tied 
to the end of it. If they commence cluster- 
ing on a limb, hold it near them while you 
shake the limb and keep it in motion, and you 
will soon have them on your rake, to be car- 
ried where you please. If your hive is al- 
ready fixed, lay the rake on the ground in 
front of the hive, and the bees, finding the 
cavity, will at once commence to travel in. 
If they do not discover the entrance at once, 
guide them to it with a twig ; after they are 
going in nicely, release the queen, and watch 
to see that she goes in with them. 

Very often the readiest way of getting a 
swarm, especially if you are away from home 
and without tools, is to cut off the limb on 
Which they are clustered, and carry them 



where you like. If the limb is small, you 
can cut it with a stout knife ; but if large, a 
saw will be needed. The teeth should be 
fine, that there be not too much jarring, and 
it would be well to make a slight cut first on 
the under side, that the bark may not hang 
when you get it nearly off. 




CARRYING HOME A SWARM OF BEES, BY 
SAWING OFF THE LIMB. 

A small pruning-saw, such as is shown in 
the picture, is very convenient for getting in 
between the limbs ; if bolted to a pole, all 
the better. When the limb begins to fall, 
catch it with a pitchfork, or get some one to 
do it for you. If you catch it properly with 
the fork, you can let it down very quietly. 
I have carried a swarm of bees on a limb, i 
of a mile or more, without any trouble. 
Where the limb can not well be cut, or the 
cutting would mar a valuable tree, I often 
get a basket and tie some twigs to the bot- 
tom on the inside, then hold them over the 
cluster, and with another twig make the bees 
climb up into it, and carry them home, giv- 
ing the owner of the tree a dollar or half a 
dollar for the bees, according to the season, 
or as we can agree. 

HIVING BEES BY MACHINERY. 

A friend sends us a model of a machine 
for taking down swarms. As it is ingeni- 



SWARMING. 



255 



SWARMING. 



ous, and a curiosity, if nothing more, I have 
had our engraver make a copy of it. 




JACKEL'S MACHINE FOR TAKING DOWN 
SWARMS. 

The machine is made for hiving- bees; it is 10 feet 
high, and can be made higher if wanted; it is so 
light that one man or boy can carry it easily, and it 
costs only a few cents to make it. Set it with the 
cross-pieces on the ground, and with the little pul- 
ley up; then turn your crank so as to let the table 
for the hive slide down ; put your bee-hive on it, and 
turn your crank until the hive is right up to the 
bees that have alighted on the tree or bush; put a 
pin in one of the holes to keep the crank from turn- 
ing back, then get up on the ladder and start them 
to going in ; when they are in, pull the pin out and 
let them down slowly, and set them where you wish 
to have them. 

I had one in use during the summer, and I think 
it is real fun to hive bees with it. Johan Jackel. 

Bell Plain, Wis., Jan. 6, 1S79. 

I fear it is too much machinery, but we 
will let our readers try it if they wish, and 
they can then report. 

TWO OR MORE SWARMS COMING OUT AND 
UNITING. 

When the swarming-note is heard in the 
apiary, it seems to carry with it an infec- 
tion; this may be a mistake, but in no other 
way can I account for swarms issuing one 
after another, while the first is in the air, 
unless they hear the sound, and haste to go 
and do likewise. 78 Of course, they will all 
unite in one, and as many as a dozen have 
been known to come out in this way, and go 
off to the woods in a great army of bees, be- 
fore any thing could be done to stop them. 



If your queens are clipped, and you "hustle 
arouild," and get them all in cages deposited 
in front of the hives, they will usually sepa- 
rate and each bee go where he belongs. Un- 
less you have plenty of help, you will be un- 
able to get the hives all moved away, and a 
new hive fixed for each one before they 
come back. In this case they will go back 
into their old hive, and, if the queen is re- 
leased, will sometimes go to work; but often- 
er, they will swarm out again within a few 
hours, or the next day; and if you keep put- 
ting them back they will soon attack and 
kill their queen, and loaf about until they 
can rear a new one, and then swarm. 79 This 
is very poor policy, and we can by no means 
afford to have such work. If they swarmed 
for want of room, they may go to work all 
right, after having room given them. If 
they come out the second time, I should give 
them a new location, divide them, or do 
something to satisfy their natural craving 
for starting a new colony. 

To go back : Suppose they get a queen or 
queens having wings, and cluster in one 
large body. In this case you are to scoop 
off bees from the cluster, with the swarm- 
ing-bag, a tin pan, or a dipper, as may be 
most convenient, and apportion parts, made 
about as nearly of the size of a swarm as 
may be, about in different hives. Give each 
hive a comb containing eggs and larvae as 
before, and then get a queen for each one if 
you can. In dividing them up, should you 
get two or more queens in a hive, they will 
be balled as I have before described, and 
you can thus easily find them. If more than 
one queen is in a hive, you will find a ball of 
bees, perhaps the size of a walnut or hen's 
egg, about them, and this can be carried to 
the colony having none. If you can not tell 
at once which are queenless, you will be able 
to do so in a few hours by the queen - cells 
they have started. If you are more anxious 
for honey than bees, you may allow two 
swarms to work together; and if you give 
them sufficient room, you will probably get 
a large crop of honey from them; but this 
plan does not pay, as a general thing, be- 
cause the extra bees will soon die off by old 
age, and your colony will be no larger than 
if the queen had had only her ordinary num- 
ber of bees. 

PREVENTION OF SW r ARMING. 

If we can entirely prevent swarming, and 
keep all the bees at home storing honey all 
the season, we shall get enormous crops from 
a single hive. Whether we shall get more 
in that way than from the old stock and all 



SWARMING. 



!.',.; 



SWARMING. 



the increase, where swarming and after- 
swarming is allowed, is a matter as yet hard- 
ly decided. If a swarm should come out in 
May, and the young queens get to laying in 
their hives by the first of June, their work- 
ers would be ready for the basswood - bloom 
in July, and it is very likely that the workers 
from 3 queens or more would gather more 
honey than those from the old queen alone. 
But, another point is to be considered. The 
two or three new colonies must have stores 
for winter; and as it takes nearly 25 lbs. to 
carry a colony through until honey comes 
again, this amount would be saved by the 
prevention of swarming. Where one has 
plenty of bees, and desires honey rather than 
increase, a non-swarming apiary would be 
quite desirable. Then how shall we prevent 
swarming? We can do it, very often, by 
simply giving abundance of room in the sur- 
plus receptacles, just as fast as more is need- 
ed, but no faster. This plan is the one gen- 
erally in use. If the bee-keeper is on hand 
to look after his bees carefully, he will get 
along very well usually. But, suppose he is 
not on hand. In that case, if the queen has 
both her wings, she will go with the swarm, 
and cluster. If the queen is clipped she 
will hop out on the ground, and may stay 
near the entrance until the swarm com- 
mences to go hack, when she will be attract- 
ed by their humming, and go in with them. 
After watching their manoeuvres many 
times, I am inclined to think that, in such 
discs, about half the queens get away and 
are lost, when no one is near to direct them. 
In case the queen is lost, the bees come back 
to the hive, and do little or nothing until a 
new queen is hatched, and then swarm 
again. This is a great loss; for the use of a 
good queen a week or ten days, in swarming 
time, to a populous colony, might be equiva- 
lent to a swarm of bees ; besides, if the bees i 
were at work in the boxes, almost all work 
would be suspended until they were again 
in possession of a queen. s " To prevent this 
loss, Mr. Quinby invented what is called A 
Queen- Yard. 

This was a little box, perhaps 20 inches 
square, with sides 4 in. high. On the top 
edge of these sides tin was nailed, so as to 
project inward perhaps H inches. This 
was so placed before the hive that the en- 
trance opened directly into one side of the 
yard. The bees, when at work, came out in- 
to it and took wing. When they swarmed 
they took wing without any trouble; but the 
queen, after trying to fly, would try to crawl 
up the sides, and could not on account of the 



tin ledge. She could only get back into the 
hive, which she would be sure to do about as 
soon as the bees got back. I believe these 
worked all right, except that they were cum- 
brous things to have about in an apiary, and 
that the bees often killed the queen after 
trying several times, and finding she was 
never with them. 

RESTRAINING THE QUEEN BY MEANS OF 

PERFORATED METAL OVER THE 

ENTRANCE. 

This matter has been discussed for nearly 
fifty years, and many great claims have been 
made by patent-hive men, that their hive 
would restrain swarming by such arrange- 
ments. At the present time the subject has 
been revived, and the drone-traps shown un- 
der Restraining Undesirable Drones 
have been claimed to answer in caging the 
queen so that the swarm would come back 
and stay till the owner was prepared to take 
care of them. If worker-bees could pass 
freely where a queen can not, this would 
doubtless prove a success ; but I believe the 
matter has not, as yet, been satisfactorily 
proved by actual experiment. Queens, more 
especially young ones from second swarms, 
manage to slip off and get away in some 
way or other. 

Before we had Italians it used to be con- 
sidered that cutting out all the queen-cells, 
as fast as built, was a preventive of swarm- 
ing. But as Italians often swarm without 
any sign of a queen-cell, the plan has been 
pretty universally dropped. Cutting out all 
the queen-cells except one, after the first 
swarm has gone out, will of course prevent 
any third or fourth swarms from coming 
out, if you are careful not to overlook any 
cells. See After -swarming. I believe, 
however, that this plan is not much in vogue 
at the present time. Perhaps it is because, 
where colonies are in the habit of being 
overhauled enough to perform such opera- 
tions, artificial swarming is made to take the 
place of natural swarming, or, what is still 
better, a judicious combination of the two 
modes is practiced. 

A few years ago it was quite common to 
talk of non-swarming hives, and there were 
many inventors who claimed to have accom- 
plished the end desired. The most of these 
hives were covered by a patent, and they 
have gone the way of most, if not all, patent- 
ed bee-hives. Giving the bees abundant 
room, both over the cluster and at its sides, 
will do very much toward making a non- 
swarming hive; but they will swarm occa- 
sionally, in spite of us. Keeping the hive 



SWARMING. 



257 



SWARMING. 



well shaded, or having the walls entirely pro- 
tected from the sun, will do much to discour- 
age swarming, and the chaff hive has for 
this reason proved about as good a non- 
swarmer as any brought out. 

PREVENTION OF SWARMING BY THE USE 
OF THE EXTRACTOR. 

Without doubt, the greatest reason for 
swarming is, that the bees have got their 
hive full of honey, and there is no more 
room for them to labor to advantage ; ac- 
cordingly queen-cells are started, and other 
preparations made, and they get, as we say, 
the swarming fever. Now, if their honey is 
taken away, and more room given them, be- 
fore they have begun to feel cramped for 
room, they will seldom get this swarming 
fever. 81 This room may be given by taking 
out combs filled with sealed honey, and 
substituting empty combs or frames of fdn., 
or it may be done by extracting the honey. 
This latter plan, I believe, is most effectual, 
for almost every drop of the honey can be 
taken away by extracting. We extract from 
the brood-combs as well as from the rest, 
and this can be done without any injury to 
the brood, if we are careful not to turn so 
fast as to throw out that which is unsealed. 
I would do this, hoAvever, only in extreme 
cases, where the bees will not work, and are 
determined to swarm. The honey around 
the brood is generally needed there, and 
would better not be removed. It should be 
remembered that this remedy to prevent 
swarming is not infallible, and I do not 
know that any one is, at all times. I have 
known a swarm to issue the day after ex- 
tracting all the honey I could get from the 
hive, but they had probably got the swarm- 
ing fever before any extracting was done. 
At another time, the bees swarmed while I 
was extracting their honey. 

KEEPING BEES IN UPPER ROOMS AND GAR- 
RETS. 

This plan for keeping a single colony, to 
furnish honey for the table simply, has been 
in vogue for perhaps centuries back. If the 
room is small, and made perfectly dark, the 
hive being placed back a few feet from the 
entrance in the wall, the bees will seldom 
swarm. One or more sides of the hive are 
generally removed, and the bees build their 
combs on the outside of the hive, or against 
the walls of the room, where the owner can 
go with knife, plate, and smoker, and cut 
out a piece for the table, without opening 
any hive, or disturbing anybody. In fact, 
he can consider this his " honey-room," and 



leave the honey stored there year after year, 
if he chooses. When a friend calls, he can 
say, " Will you have a slice of new honey? 
or will you have one a year old? or two years 
old?" He might even have it ten or a dozen 
years old, for aught I know, if he has a taste 
for antiquated honey. Would not such a 
honey-room be nice? While writing about 
it, it has occurred to me that a room of this 
kind, fitted up with all modern appliances, 
might be a very pretty and a very useful 
thing. With the experience I have had in 
the house-apiary, however, I am inclined to 
think that, where there is so much room, 
there would be a great disposition in the 
bees to loaf and cluster on the sides of the 
room, in the shade, instead of going to work. 
Now for the objections. 

If the hive and honey are close by the en- 
trance, the bees will swarm as much as in 
the house-apiary. If it is a yard or more 
back from the wall, the bees, not being able 
to take- wing in the dark, will crawl all this 
distance on foot, which would prove a great 
loss of time and strength, and, consequently, 
of honey. Providing the plan succeeds, you 
get a good crop of honey year after year, it 
is true ; but you have all the time the efforts 
of only a single queen. While your honey 
increases, your gathering force is no more, 
after the lapse of ten years, than it was be- 
fore. If one colony is all you want, this may 
be all right. The queen can not live more 
than three or four years, and at her demise a 
new one must be reared and fertilized. For 
some reason, I know not what, she is very 
often lost in these garrets, and the colony 
dies of queenlessness. Worst of all, they 
will often swarm, and keep swarming, until 
nothing is left of them ; but I believe swarm- 
ing is rather the exception, and not the rule. 
Now, who will have the nicest honey-room, 
close to or adjoining the pantry? Have it 
so your wife can cut out the honey any day 
in the year, without saying a word to any- 
body. When it is all in nice working trim, 
send me a description of it. 

DO BEES CHOOSE A LOCATION BEFORE 
SW ARMING? 

We have ample proof that they sometimes 
do ; but whether such is always the case or 
not, we have no means of determining posi- 
tively, so far as I can see. It is my opinion, 
that, although they usually do so, there are 
many exceptions. When a swarm of bees 
catches the fever by hearing the swarming- 
note of a neighboring colony, it seems diffi- 
cult to understand that they could have se- 
lected their tree, and made the same provi- 



SWARMING 



258 



SWARMING 



sion for housekeeping that the first one may 
have done. The proof of this has been giv- 
en many times through our journals. A 
neighbor of ours once saw bees going in and 
out of a tree, and supposing of course that it 
contained a colony, went with his boys the 
next day, and cut it down. It contained no 
sign of a bee. While they were standing 
still and wondering at this strange state of 
affairs, the boys, doubtless joking their fa- 
ther about his seeing bees where there were 
none, lo and behold! a swarm appeared in 
the air. They came to the very spot where 
the now prostrate tree had stood, and seemed 
as much astounded as a colony whose hive 
has been moved, away. After some circling 
around they clustered in a neighboring tree, 
and were hived. They had selected this as 
their home, it seems, and an advance party 
had gone ahead the day before, to clean out 
and fix the hollow ready for the swarm, and 
it was these house-cleaners that my friend 
saw at work. I gave the above in Glean- 
ings a few years ago, and a large number 
of corroborating instances were furnished 
by our readers. The number of bees that go 
out to look up a location is not usually great, 
but they may often lie seen about swarming- 
time prowling about old hives, and hollows 
in trees, as it they were looking for some- 
thing. After awhile, swarms come and take 
possession of these places, if they seem suit- 
able, and of late a hope has been expressed, 
through the journals, that we might take ad- 
vantage of this disposition, and fix hives so 
attractive that the bees will come out, se- 
lect the "house and lot" that suits their taste 
best, and then, when they get ready, "move 
in. 1 ' When this is accomplished, we shall 
have automatic swarming. 

DECOY HIVES. 

Many of the friends have followed out the 
idea given above, by locating hives in the 
forests, in the trees, and such hives have in 
many cases been quickly accepted and ap- 
propriated. I believe we are indebted to Mr. 
J. II. Martin, Hartford, N. Y., for first sug- 
gesting the idea. Hives left standing on 
the ground in the apiary have many times 
been selected by swarms, and, if I am cor- 
rect, the bees, in such cases, often come out 
of the parent hive, and go directly to these 
hives without clustering at all. I have sug- 
gested, through our journal, the possibility 
that hives could be so arranged that the 
bees would be attracted by them, and use 
them instead of going for the woods. When 
this shall be successfully done, I think it 
will be a great achievement; and even if we 



succeed in securing only half of the run- 
away swarms, it will be no inconsiderable 
item. 

AUTOMATIC SWARMING. 

From what has been said, it will not take 
much of a jump of the imagination to con- 
ceive of a hive so arranged as to swarm it- 
self, mechanically. We usually keep a hive 
suspended on a spring balance, with the 
white dial so placed that the amount of hon- 
ey gathered each day can be seen at a 
glance, even when only passing near the 
apiary. On coming to dinner one day, the 
dial showed that the hive had lost instead 
of gaining, and the loss amounted to exactly 
8 lbs.; you see, this was the weight of the 
swarm which had issued during the fore- 
noon. Of course, the hive rose an inch or 
two, after having been lightened so much. 
Well, the same idea has been used in con- 
nection with Quinby's queen-yard for auto- 
matic swarming. The hive must first be 
made double ; that is, an empty hive is 
fastened to the one filled with bees, and the 
two are balanced on a pivot. A weight is 
added to the empty one each morning, and 
suitable slides are so arranged that, when 
the swarm goes out, the hives tilt, opening 
an entrance into the new hive, and closing 
the old one. The queen, having her wings 
clipped, is confined in the queen-yard; the 
bees rush back on missing her, and their 
old entrance conducts them right into the 
new hive, the queen following in with the 
rest. I believe this machine has been 
brought into shape so as to work in practice, 
but, like many other things, the amount of 
machinery required for each hive, and the 
labor of adjusting the weights each morn- 
ing, on every hive, more than balances the 
trouble of hiving, and the possible loss of 
swarms which issue in the old way. 

Another automatic swarmer has been in- 
vented and brought into practical use by 
D. A. Jones, of Beeton, Ont., Canada. This 
is based on the principle, or rather the pecu- 
liar habit which swarms have, of alighting 
on the same spot or limb on which other 
swarms have alighted before. Where many 
hives of bees are kept, it is well known that 
after one swarm has clustered on a certain 
limb, others are apt to choose the same spot; 
and often, nearly every swarm of the sea- 
son, by some strange instinct, will take to 
that very limb as soon as they leave the 
hive. 

After having watched a great many times 
to discover the cause of this queer behavior, 
I decided it came about thus: As soon as a 
swarm issues, straggling bees scatter about 



SWAKMING. 



2-3!) 



SWAEMING. 



in every direction ; and while the air is full 
of them, you may see individual bees scan- 
ning and hovering about all the twigs and 
shrubbery for rods around . Well , if a swarm 
has clustered on one of these twigs or limbs, 
and a bee should come very near the spot, 
he would catch the scent of the queen, from 
her having rested on the spot, even were it a 
week before. See Odor of Queens. Well, 
as soon as he catches this he gives a call, 
and other bees rush to the spot, and the 
probability is, the whole swarm will soon be 
clustered on this very limb. After this the 
chances are double, that the next will alight 
there, and so on. Aside from the odor of 
the queen, the limb almost always has bits 
of wax fastened to it by the bees, while 
hanging there, even if they hang clustered 
not longer than fifteen minutes. 

Our friend Jones fixes something like an 
old-fashioned well-sweep ■ that is, a pole bal- 
anced in a fork, so that its smaller end is 
high in the air, while the other rests on the 
ground. On this heavy end is fixed a box 
to contain stones for ballast. At the other 
is what is sometimes called a bee-bob. This 
may be a bunch of hay, or a bunch of green 
leaves. I have heard of using a black stock- 
ing on a pole, to cause the bees to alight on it. 
Mullein-heads dipped in ink, so as to imitate 
a swarm of bees, are also recommended. 
Perhaps the best thing is a ball made by 
stringing dead bees on a string with a nee- 
dle, and then winding it about some sub- 
stance about the size and shape of a swarm, 
letting some of the strings hang down. 
Well, suppose you put stones in the box, un- 
til about 5 lbs. on the bee-bob would cause 
it to sink with a moderate speed. If a swarm 
should cluster on this bob, it would be let 
down automatically, as soon as the weight 
was sufficient. A stop is arranged at the 
proper point, to stop the pole and shake off 
the bees, and, as a matter of course, ahive is 
set right at the proper point for them to run 
into it. If they go back to the bee-bob 
it will let them down again, and so on. 
Furthermore, our ingenious friend has a 
bell and pistol fixed to the post, so that one 
is rung, and the other discharged, to let the 
apiarist know that his bees are safely in the 
hive, ready to be placed where he wishes. 
Many of these machines have been put up; 
but I believe few succeed with them, 'as does 
friend Jones, principally for the reason that 
the first swarm can not be made to use the 
bee-bob, in preference to some place suiting 
their own fancy. I give these plans, that 
you may know what has been done. 



RINGING BELLS AND BEATING PANS TO 
BRING DOWN A SWARM OF BEES. 

The books, of late years, have seemed to 
teach that this practice is but a relic of su- 
perstition, and that no real good was accom- 
plished by the " tanging," as it is often 
called. Perhaps it usually has no effect in 
causing them to alight; but from watching 
the habits of swarms, I am inclined to think 
otherwise. Those in the habit of seeing 
queens on the wing are generally aware that 
the note they give when flying is quite dif- 
ferent from that of a worker or drone ; and 
many times, when a queen has escaped while 
being introduced, I have detected her where- 
abouts by the sound of her wings, before I 
had any glimpse of her at all. With a little 
practice we can distinguish this note amidst 
the buzzing of a thousand bees flying about, 
so as to turn our eyes upon her when she is 
quite a distance away. Is it not likely that 
the bees composing a swarm know this 
sound as well as we do, or much better? 
Again, a swarm of bees usually has scouts 
to conduct them to the tree, or other place of 
their chosen abode, and it ig quite likely 
they follow these scouts, and know of their 
presence as they do their queen, by the 
sound they emit from their wings. A noise, 
if loud enough, would be likely to drown 
these sounds, and thus produce disorganiza- 
tion. Throwing dirt or gravel among them 
will bring them down generally quite speed- 
ily, and I suppose it is because it produces 
disorganization much in the same way. 

Throwing water among them is thought to 
be more effectual than either the sounds or 
the dust ; and it has been suggested, that it 
is because they think a shower is coming up ; 
but I am inclined to think it is more the dis- 
organization, and perhaps also the wetting 
of their wings, that makes them hurry to 
cluster on the nearest object. If a pail of 
water is near the apiary, and a dipper handy, 
swarms that do not seem inclined to cluster 
may usually be made to do so without 
trouble. As it is difficult to throw water 
with a dipper as high as swarms often fly, 
and in the fine spray that seems most ef- 
fective, a small hand force - pump, or fire- 
engine, has been used, and seems to answer 
the purpose most effectively. With a pail 
of water on your left arm, and the fountain 
pump, as it is called, in your right hand, you 
can chase after a swarm, if need be, and 
with the attachment for giving a fine spray, 
you can wet their wings, if they threaten to 
be stubborn, so that they must come down. 

As this fountain pump is a most valuable 



SWARMING. 



2<;o 



SWARMING. 



implement to have around for a great varie- 
ty of other purposes, to say nothing of tires, 
I think the investment a very judicious one 
for the bee-keeper. In one case, our honey- 
house took fire from the stove-pipe, after 
Ave had been making candy, and a fountain 
pump saved the building after the fire had 
burst through the roof. The whole apiary 
would have suffered much, and much of it 
been entirely destroyed, had not the fire 
been extinguished in the building. 







Many claim that absconding swarms can 
be stopped by flashing across tliem the re- 
flection from a looking-glass. This has 
been explained by saying they take it for 
lightning, and stop, thinking that a storm 
is coming. I am inclined to think the true 
solution of this and other means used to 
bring down swanns is, that it disturbs and 
disorganizes the body, thus causing them to 
alight. 

In concluding the subject of swarming. I 
would ask the reader's attention to an ex- 
cellent article on the subject, written by 
G. 13. Peters, of Council Bend, Ark., and 
given below. 

NATURAL SWARMING, AND ITS ATTENDANT CLUS- 
TERING. 

When bees swarm naturally, why do they collect 
tog-ether on some object, and not fly directly to the 
woods after leaving the parent hive? This was a 
question which excited my juvenile attention when 
I was tin years of age. 

The ancient and honored custom of ringing bells, 
beating on tin pans and other sounding things, I had 
often noticed, and to my childish mind it appeared 
to be all important in stopping the swarm when on 
the wing. It happened that the family were absent 
at church, on one occasion, and I at home lolling on 
the greensward, or playing among fruit-trees and 
roses, when the bees swarmed and clustered as readi- 
ly as they could have done if all the Callithumpian 
troupe had been there on duty; and I had the plea- 
sure afterward of boasting to papa that I had hived 
the bees without noise or assistance. He said some 
persons borrowed excitement from the agitation and 
roaring of the swarm, and rang bells more from an 
ecstatic impulse than from a sense of its necessity; 



and he had no objection to such persons thus enjoy- 
ing themselves, but that it had about as much to do 
in settling bees as the jargon of trumpets, gongs, and 
horns, used by the ancient heathen, had in fright- 
ening away the evil genius that eclipsed the sun, as 
they supposed. It was manifest to my young mind, 
that there was a cause for bees fixing on bushes or 
other objects, and, after observation, I established 
the fact, long before Langstroth threw out the sug- 
gestion of a reconnoitering party. 

The bee is impelled in all its operations by instinct 
alone, which in some cases is so remarkable that 
some authors have attributed to it the power of 
rational conception. 

When a swarm issues from a parent hive, either 
with an old or a young queen, they appear confused 
until they cluster, when they become docile and 
quiet. Why did they cluster there? Because they 
were homeless little wanderers, and instinct directs 
them to sojourn awhile until a set of explorers 
shall have discovered some cavity in cliff or tree, 
suitable for a future habitation. A number of 
scouts, varying from 30 to 50, leave the swarm be- 
fore it is fairly settled, to explore the country in 
search of a cavity suitable for the propagation of 
their species, which is the end and aim of all insect 
creation. If these scouts are not successful, the 
swarm may be hived and permitted to remain in 
the same place and do well; but if they are success- 
ful, and on returning find the swarm where they 
left it, or near the place, they will immediately lead 
it away. Queen, workers, drones, all take wing, 
rise high in the air, and abandon old home, kin, and 
every thing, for ever, and no effort of the bee-keeper 
can arrest them. This result of a successful scout 
is as sure to transpire as night to follow the day. 
Perhaps one in a hundred will go straight to the 
forest without fixing on anything; but in such cases 
they have been delayed from some unknown cause 
in swarming, been lying outside the parent hive, 
and have selected their home before issuing forth. 
I have seen that occur three times myself, and they 
move differently from the absconding bees that 
have clustered before starting. Now, those runa- 
ways went straight out of the hive to a hollow tree, 
moving slowly and near the ground, scarcely above 
your head and I followed all of them to their place 
of abode, once on foot, twice on horseback, and very 
easily kept pace with them; they took a "bee-line" 
from the hives to the hollow trees not exceeding a 
half-mile off. I suppose all such have found a hol- 
low near by. I noticed a revolving lot of bees in 
each, about five feet through, leading the van with 
a hissing sound not unlike the sound of bees when 
exasperated. That sound is in plain contrast with 
the roaring of the great body of bees that follow in 
the rear, and it is that peculiar sound that makes 
bees frantic with the impulse to follow it, so that 
they can not be prevented short of actual destruc- 
tion. 

I will remind the reader here that bees have differ- 
ent sounds to accomplish different ends. The only 
natural sound of bees on the wing is that produced 
by the returning laborer when she comes, at even, 
laden with spoils collected from some flowery field. 
Who has not been charmed by such industrious en- 
ergy, as those mellow tones died in the entrance of 
the hive? The shrill note of the pugnacious defend- 
er of the hive is familiar to every child. The sharp 
sound of bees just beginning to lead out a swarm 
heralds its advent to the apiarist and is very differ- 
ent from the two former sounds. The coarse bass 



SWARMING. 



2G1 



SWAEMING. 



roaring of the swarm before it begins to cluster is 
heard only when they are in search of the queen, 
and is kept up by both workers and drones ; then 
follows the sharp cutting sound as they begin to 
cluster, to call the colony together, which is well 
known to the bee-keeper as the signal of congrega- 
ting. Then the shrill hissing sound of the escort 
that leads them to the woods blends with the roar 
of the rear part of the swarm, making a strange 
compound heard only from absconding bees. Then 
again, in that "happy hour" when they have found a 
house, we hear the happy hum made by a peculiar 
position of body, and indicating peace and content- 
ment. Also a sound of distress, when annoyed by 
smoke or enemies, rings through the hive, and no 
wail of misery from any other insect tribe can equal 
it. Finally we have the ventilating sound at the 
entrance and all through the hive, which in hot 
weather may be heard quite a distance. All these 
different sounds are instinctively associated with 
certain purposes, and the movements of the queen 
are generally governed by them. She thus follows 
certain sounds as do the whole colony. She never 
leads the swarm, but is attracted by the roaring mass ; 
and when she enters a new hive there follows an air 
of quiet, which security induces. If she is lost, or 
has stayed, after awhile her faithful children will 
leave the hive, and in wild confusion look for their 
mother, giving out a sound of despair differing from 
all other sounds. 

In settling this dense forest country (Mississippi- 
River bottom) I deadened large tracts of land for fu- 
ture cotton-fields. I found many bee-trees in these 
deadenings when divested of foliage. In winter 
time I would cut them down, saw out a segment of 
the tree, including the hive when it was not smashed 
by the falling, place them upright as they originally 
stood, and leave them to swarm next spring. Hav- 
ing 40 or 50 such stands, I made a specialty of see- 
ing them every daybetween 10 and 2 o'clock, during 
swarming-time, and saved many new colonies. In 
riding one day through the deadening, I heard the 
shrill noise of escort bees, and soon discovered about 
50 circling about a tree, ascending to the branches, 
then going to the nearest tree, and circling, descend- 
ing to the very root*, and continuing ascending and 
descending from one tree to another, taking in sap- 
lings even, until I was led by them unconsciously to 
one of my bee-tree colonies, and there hung a swarm 
in the bough of a small tree, and into that swarm 
they went. I was sure that was a band of bee-scouts, 
and, believing they had returned without findiDg a 
hollow tree, I hived them, and, to test my theory, let 
them remain on the spot. They did well. Thus I 
deduce the following conclusions which I know to be 
practically useful to the bee-keeper who prefers 
natural swarming: 1. They cluster to afford oppor- 
tunity for the explorers to tind a new habitation. 
Many times they fail to find one, and in that case 
alone the new hive may be permitted to remain 
where they clustered; but if the explorers find a 
home, they conduct the whole colony directly to it. 
2. As the swarm is watching for the return of 
scouts, it is necessary to hive them without delay; 
and as soon as they are quiet, remove them a dis- 
tance from that place so as to thwart the returning 
scouts. 3. The new colony will never flee to the 
woods unless the scouts conduct. I have kept a 
regular account, running up to one hundred and 
eighty-two colonies thus treated, and never had one 
tj leave the hive. There are apparent exceptions; 
for instance, a colony clustering in the full rays of 



the sun on a hot day will be driven off by its scorch- 
ing rays to seek a more congenial resting-place. 
Another exception is where bees, in a dry, sterile 
country, if they ever swarm at all, are almost sure 
to take wiug, in order to find a more favored region 
where their instinct suggests that the pabulum of 
bee life may be more abundant. 

HIVING A NATURAL SWARM OP BEES. 

Fifty years ago the common bee-hive of the pio- 
neer was a segment of a hollow tree, with a board 
on top and sticks across the center, to prevent the , 
new comb from breaking down when filled with 
honey or brood. Next followed the box hive, fin- 
ished somewhat after the fashion of the gum hive. 
From the first came the appellation of " bee gum." 
To introduce a natural swarm in either of these is 
most easily done by hiving from above, and not 
from below, as my " illustrious predecessors" did. 
This is readily effected by inverting the hive and 
placing the open mouth immediately under the 
swarm, and almost in contact with it. If they have 
clustered near the ground, place the hive on the 
ground; and as the height varies, vary the resting 
of the hive, say on a bench, box, barrel, or any ob- 
ject so as to obtain that relative position of bees 
and hive. If high up on the branch of a valuable 
fruit or ornamental tree, draw up the hive and lash 
it to the branch or some other object to make it se- 
cure; then a sudden jar by tapping the limb or oth- 
er object will precipitate the whole swarm to the 
lower end of the hive. Cover the mouth of the hive 
with a board, leaving two inches open. Immediately 
upon finding themselves in a dark room, they set up 
that "happy hum" indicating delight instead of 
fright, and all the bees that happen to miss the hive 
will make a rush for it; nay, they can not be kept 
out unless the mouth of the hive is entirely closed 
up. After a half-minute's rest to enable the bees to 
get a footing, the hive is to be gently raised and 
placed in an upright position, and in five minutes 
more it can be removed to its permanent locality 
where they will begin the career of a complete col- 
ony. 

If the swarm is high up on the body of a tree, or 
any object not susceptible of the "sudden jar," I 
lash the hive securely to the tree or limb, and with 
the quill end of a turkey's feather, detach as much 
of the lower part of the swarm as I can, letting it fall 
in the open hive as before. I say lower part of the 
swarm, for there the queen is always to be found in 
a clustered swarm. I then put on the closing board, 
the roaring is instantly started in the hive, and then 
I gently brush all the bees off the tree, not caring 
where or how they fall, as they are sure to go to the 
sound in the hive. When they cease to return to 
the tree I lower them down, upright the hive, and in 
a short time place them on their parent stand. Up- 
on the same principle I hive bees in my triangular 
hives or in movable-frame hives, with this difference: 
I do not invert these hives, but I bring the top of 
the triangular hive in contact with the swarm, and 
the slots for the honey-boxes just underneath them, 
or I take out the center frame of such a hive of any 
construction and place it as I do the triangular hive; 
then with the quill end of said turkey's feather, de- 
tach about one-third of the swarm, dropping them 
in and through the slots or frames as the case may 
be, gently pushing in, with the feather end, all the 
bees that lodge on top of the hive. In an instant 
that welcome roaring is started, when I displace the 
rest of the swarm, which, lodging on top of the 
hive, rush to their companions' welcome. When the 
17 



SWARMING. 



L'<i2 



SWARMING. 



whole energy of the swarm is directed to the inner 
hive, I close honey-slots or replace the movable 
frame and cut off connect ion through the top. They 
then make for 1 he entrance, calling in all absentees, 
and in a few minutes the new colony is placed in the 
apiary. It is the simplest process in the world to 
hive a natural swarm of bees, if they are managed 
with patient gentleness, and not irritated by rude 
treatment. Thousands of men think they know 
how to hive bees, and yet the use of the veil and 
gloves proves they do not comprehend the nature of 
the insect. I can hive halt a dozen swarms in the 
time required to make an artificial colony. In fact, 
it can be done sooner than described, and there is no 



earthly necessity of using veils or other protective 
means. With this mode of hiving a natural swarm, 
or with any other mode, the most important part of 
the whole transaction is to remove the hive as soon as 
the confusion of hiving is over and the bees quiet, to 
some other locality, in order to avoid the returning 
scouts whose explorations of the forest for a hollow 
tree may have been successful. If so, whether 
they lind the swarm in the place they left it, or in a 
new hive, they will as surely take the colony off to 
the woods as effect follows cause in any other ope- 
ration of their economy. George B. Peters. 
Council llend, Ark., Sept. 22, 1876. 




T. 



TZtASXSL {Dipsacus). The Greek name 
of this plant signifies to thirst; because the 
heads, after flowering, are of a porous nature, 
ami "drink" large quantities of rain water. 
On account of this property, the heads are 
often used to sprinkle clothes, before iron- 
ing. They take up the water, and, when 
shaken, throw it out in a spray. 




TEASEL {Dipsacus Fullonum). 

The variety that produces honey is the one 
used by fullers in finishing cloth, and hence 
its name, D. Fullonum, or Fullers' Teasel. 
This plant, like the buckwheat and clover, 
is raised for another crop besides the honey, 
and therefore may be tested by the acre 
without so much danger of pecuniary loss, 
should the honey-crop prove a failure. Our 
friend Doolittle pronounces the honey re- 
markably white and fine, but some others 
have given a somewhat different opinion. 

From what I can learn, I am inclined to 
think teasel does not yield honey every 
year; it grows in considerable quantities by 
the roadsides and in waste places in our lo- 
cality, but I very seldom see bees on it. 
Perhaps acres of it under high cultivation 
might make a great difference, as it does 
with any other plant. 82 The following letter 
from G. M. Doolittle, of Borodino, N. Y., 
gives a very full account of the method pur- 
sued in its cultivation. 



The plant is biennial as a rule, although a part of 
the plants (the smaller ones) may not produce heads 
till the third year, and in that case they arc called 
" voors." Tlie ground is prepared much the same 
as for corn, being 1 marked but one way, the rows 
bci ig from 3 to 3H feet apart. The seed is then 
sown, and, as a rule, left for the rains to wash the dirt 
over ir, as it is sown as early in the spring as the 
ground can be worked. Some, however, slightly 
brush the seed in. The plants, when they first 
come up, are very small, and the nr6t hoeing is a te- 
dious operation, bting about the same as that re- 
quired for beets or carrots. The plants are hoed, or 
should be, three times. Farmers usually raise a part 
of a crop of beans or turnips with them the first 
year. One heavy drawback on teasel culture, is 
I hat 1 hey are very liable to winter - kill by having a 
thaw, and the weather turning cold suddenly, so as 
to freeze the plant when there is water in the crown, 
which entirely destroys it. An open winter is very 
bad for teasels. The second year, duringthe month 
of May, they are passed through with a cultivator, 
and slightly hoed, when they are left to run, as it is 
termed. The "kings," as they are commonly called, 
are heads at the top of the stalks, and commence to 
blossom about July 10th, continuing in bloom about 
a week or 10 days, opening first in the center of the 
head, blossoming toward the tip and base, and end- 
ing off at the base. As soon as the blossoms fall off 
they are cut, cured, and shipped to manufacturers 
for the purpose of taking the nap from cloth. The 
"middlings," as they are termed, commence to blos- 
som when the kings are about half through, and the 
"buttons" come last, making from SO to 25 days of 
bloom from the commencing of the kings to the end- 
ing of the buttons. The middlings and buttons re- 
ceive the same treatment as the kings, and all are 
mixed and sold together. They are sold by the 
thousand, 10 lbs. making a thousand. An acre will 
yield from 100 to 250 thousand. At present they 
bring about 75c. per thousand, but years ago the 
price was from $2 to $5.00. Bees work on them all 
hours of the day, and, no matter how well basswood 
may yield honey, you will find them at work on the 
teasel at all times ; and I have never known teasel 
to fail to seci-ete honey, except in 1876. 

The honey is very thin, and much evaporation is 
required to bring it to the consistency of basswood 
honey when first gathered. We have many times 
thought, if teasel could come just after basswood, it 
would be of great value; but, coming as it does with 
basswood, it is of no great advantage, except that it 
usually lasts from 6 to 8 days after basswood is 
past. ' G. M. DOOWTTLE. 

Borodino, N. Y., Dec. 10, 1877. 



TOADS. 



265 



TitANsrEiiiiiNG. 



TOADS. These, without question, are 
an enemy to the honey-bee. They usually 
plant themselves before the entrances of 
the hives about night-fall, and, as the heav- 
ily laden bees come in, they are snapped up 
with a movement tbat astonishes one who 
has never witnessed it. His toadship sits 
near the alighting-board, with an innocent, 
unconcerned look, and, although you see a 
bee suddenly disappear, it is only after you 
have repeatedly witnessed the phenomenon 
that you can really believe the toad had any 
thing to do with it. By observing very 
closely, however, you will see a sort of flash, 
as the bee disappears, accompanied by a 
lightning-like opening and shutting of his 
mouth. The bee is taken in by his long 
tongue, and I should judge that he is capa- 
ble of striking one with it when as much as 
two inches distant. I do not know how 
many bees it takes to make a meal, but I do 
know that toads will often become surpris- 
ingly thick about the hives during the hon- 
ey-season, if they are not driven away by 
some means. I have been in the habit of 
killing them ; but I must confess, my feel- 
ings revolt at such severe measures, and I 
much prefer the plan given by a friend, as 
follows: 

Duiing last season I noticed large numbers of 
toads hopping about my apiary; and having often 
seen them eat bees, I devised a plan to dispose of 
them as follows: I made a pair of wooden tongs, and, 
with a deep tin pail, I went into the apiary just 
after sundown one evening, and in a short time 
picked up, with the tongs, 32 toads; and it was not a 
good day for toad-hunting either. Well, what should 
I do with them? I did not really like to kill them, 
so I took them on to the bridge and dumped them 
into the Tuscarawas River, telling them to swim for 
life. About a week after that, I disposed of 16 more 
in the same way. A. A. Fradenburg. 

Port Washington, O., Nov. 3, 1879. 

TRANSFERRING. I firmly believe 
that all of our readers can do their own 
transferring, and do it nicely, if they will 
only make up their minds that they will suc- 
ceed. If you are awkward and inexperi- 
enced, it will take you longer, that is all. 

It has so often been said, that the best 
time is during the period of fruit-blossoms, 
Hiat it seems almost needless to repeat 
it. Be sure that you have cleared away all 
rubbish from about your box hive or gum, 
for a space of at least 6 feet all round.. We 
would decidedly prefer to have the hive 
stand directly on the ground with all rough 
and uneven places filled up with sawdust 
nicely stamped down. Make it so.clean and 
tidy that you can find a needle if you should 
drop it, and be sure you leave no cracks or 



crevices in which the queen or bees may 
hide or crawl. Make all these arrangements 
several days beforehand if possible, so that 
the bees may be fully acquainted with the 
surroundings, and be all at work ; remember 
we wish to choose a time when as many bees 
as possible are out at .work, for they will 
then be nicely out of the way. About 10 
o'clock A. m. will probably be the best time, 
if it is a warm, still day. Get all your appli- 
ances in readiness, every thing you can think 
of that you may need, and some other things 
too, perhaps. You will want a line-toothed 
saw, a hammer, a chisel to cut nails in the 
old hive, tacks, and thin strips of pine (un- 
less you have the transf erring-clasps), a large 
board to lay the combs upon (the cover to a 
Simplicity hive does " tiptop"), an old table 
cloth or sheet folded up to lay under the 
combs to prevent bumping the heads of the 
unhatched brood too severely, a honey-knife 
or a couple of them (if you have none, get a 
couple of long thin-bladed bread or butch- 
er knives), and lastly a basin of water and a 
towel to keep every thing washed up clean. 
Now, as I have said before , this is really, a 
great part of it, women's work ; and if you 
cannot persuade your wife or sister, or some 
good friend among the sex to help, you are 
not fit to be a bee-keeper. In saying this we 
take it for granted that women, the world 
over, are ready and willing to assist in any 
useful work, if they are treated as fellow- 
beings and equals. The operation of trans- 
ferring will afford you an excellent oppor- 
tunity to show your assistant many of the 
wonders of the bee-hive ; and in the role of 
teacher, you may discover that you are stim- 
ulating yourself to a degree of skill that you 
would not be likely to attain otherwise. 

A bellows smoker will be very handy ; but 
if you have not one, make a smoke of some 
bits of rotten wood in a pan ; blow a little 
smoke in at the entrance of the hive, but do 
not get the sawdust on fire. Tip the old 
hive over backward, and blow in a little 
more smoke to drive the bees down among 
the combs ; let it stand there, and place the 
new hive so that the entrance is exactly in 
the place of the old one ; put a large news- 
paper in front of the new hive and let one 
edge lie under the entrance. The returning 
bees, laden with pollen and honey, are now 
alighting and going into. the hive, and 
rushing out again in dismay at rinding 
it empty; we therefore want te get one 
comb in for them, to let them know 
that it is their old home. Move the old 
hive back a little further, so as to get 



TRANSFERRING 



•J.W 



TRANSFERRING. 



all round it, and give them a little more 
smoke whenever they seem disposed to be 
"obstreperous ;" and now comes the trial of 
skill and ingenuity. The problem is, to get 
those crooked, irregular combs, out of that 
old hive, and then to fix them neatly in the 
movable frames as in the cut on next page. 

Your own good sense will have to dictate 
much in this matter. Saw off the cross- 
sticks, if such there be, and with your thin 
knife cut the combs loose from one side; 
cut off the nails and pry off this side, but 
don't get the honey running if you can help 
it. We have as yet said nothing about bee- 
veils ; and although we keep them to 
sell, I really do not think you need one, un- 
less you are so careless as to get the honey 
running, and start robbers. When the side 
is off, you can probably get one comb out. 
Lay it on the folded table-cloth, take out the 
comb-guide, lay the frame on the cloth, and 
let your feminine friend cut it so as to require 
that the frame be sprung slightly to go over 
it. With the clasps she can cut and fasten 
the combs in as fast as you can take them 
out; if sticks and tacks, strings or rubbers 
be used, it will take some longer. When the 
frame is to be lifted into a horizontal po- 
sition, the board, cloth and all. is to be rais- 
ed with it. With the wash-basin and towel, 
keep the honey neatly wiped up. If robbers 
begin to annoy, cover both hives with a 
cloth while you are fitting the combs, and 
keep the brood in your new frames in a 
compact cluster, as it was in the old hive, 
or some of it may get chilled. When you 
get near the central combs, you will proba- 
bly lift out large clusters of bees with the 
comb ; these are to be shaken and brushed 
off on the newspaper. If they do not seem 
disposed to crawl into the hive, take hold of 
the edge of the paper and shake them up 
toward the entrance ; they will soon go in. 83 
A paper is better than a cloth, for they can 
hot stick fast to it. If you carefully fixed 
things before commencing, so there was no 
crack or crevice into which a bee could 
crawl, except into the entrance of the new 
hive, and if you have been careful— as you 
always should be— to avoid setting your 
(clumsy?) feet on a bee, you certainly have 
not killed the queen, and she is in one hive 
or the other. To be sure she is in the new 
liive, shake all before the entrance when 
you are done, and see that every bee goes in- 
to the hive. Save out the drone-comb, and 
fix it all in a frame or frames by itself. It 
will do we'll for surplus honey, but we don't 
want it in the brood - chamber. ' Utensils 



and bits of comb that have much honey 
daubed on them may be put in the upper 
story for the bees to clean up ; but if the 
weather is cool, keep the quilt down over 
them closely for a day or two. We would 
look them over carefully every day or two, 
and as fast as they get the combs fastened, 
remove the clasps or other fastenings and 
bend the combs into place. 

Each operation is very simple and easy in 
itself, if you go about it at the proper time 
and in the right way. Bear in mind that 
the bees, from first to last, are to be kept 
constantly in subjection, by use of the 
smoke, and that you must never let them 
get the faintest idea that, by any possibility, 
they can become master. Send them back 
among the combs as often as they poke 
their heads out, until they are perfectly sub- 
dued, and hang in quiet clusters, like bees 
at swarming-time. 

It makes no difference which side up the 
brood-combs are, in transferring; turn them 
horizontally from their original position, or 
completely upside down, as you find most 
convenient. Store comb in which the cells 
are built at an angle, would perhaps better 
be as it stood originally ; but if you do not 
get it so, it makes very little difference; the 
bees have a way of fixing all such matters 
very quickly. 

WHEN TO TRANSFER. 

Several inquire if we would advise them 
to transfer bees in the months of June, July, 
Aug., etc. We really do not see how we can 
answer such a question, not knowing the 
persons. Among our neighbors there are 
those who would work so carefully that they 
would be almost sure to succeed ; and again, 
there are others who would be almost sure 
to fail. We are inclined to think those who 
make these inquiries would be quite apt to 
fail, for the careful ones would go to work 
without asking any questions, and do it at 
any season, if they were sufficiently anxious 
to have it done. Bees can be transferred at 
any month in the year. If in June or July, 
you will need an extractor to throw out the 
honey from the heaviest pieces, before fast- 
ening them into frames. The spring has 
been decided to be the best time, because 
there are then less bees and less honey, as a 
general thing, than at other times. The 
bees will fix Up the comb better, when honey 
enough is being gathered to induce them to 
build comb to some extent, and the period of 
fruit-blossoming seems to secure all of the 
above advantages more fully than any other 
season. 



TRANSFERRING. 



2G7 



TRANSFERRING. 



APPLIANCES FOB FASTENING IN TIIE 
COMB. 

We generally use and rather prefer trans- 
ferring-clasps. 

These are made of pieces of tin of various 
sizes, from 2i to 5 in. in length, and from i to 
f in. in width. They are bent twice, at right 
angles, so as to leave just I of an inch be- 
tween the two bends. As I have directed 
all our frame stuff to be made of i-inch lum- 
ber, these clasps will just slip over either the 
top, bottom, or sides, and catch on the comb 
so as to hold it in place as shown in the cut 
below. 

Thin slips of wood, something like comb- 
guides, are sometimes used by tacking them 
to the bars of the frame. Others wind fine 
binding wire clear around the frames. Some 
of the large bee-keepers of York State use a 
long sharp thorn, which is pushed through 
an awl-hole made in the center of the frame- 
stuff. This holds the frame very securely, 
and the thorns may remain in, to give 
strength to the comb. 

There is still another plan, by the use of 
bent wires, which I shall call transferring - 
wires. The wires; and the manner of put- 
ting them on, are shown in the cut below. 




TRANSFEBBING CLASPS, WIBES, AND 

STICKS, AND THE MANNEB OF 

USING THEM. 

These wires have one advantage over the 
clasps, from the fact that they can be re- 
moved without lifting the frames from the 
hive. Just slip off the top and twist the 
wire half around,' and it can be drawn right 
up. They also possess another very decided 
advantage. When very heavy combs are 
transferred, they, as a matter of course, rest 
With their full weight on the bottom-bar, 
and it is sure to be bent by the weight, un- 
less made considerably heavier, than would 
be needed for combs that are built down 
from the top-bar, or for those built on fdn. 
Well, these wires support the lightest bottom- 
bar • ivn til the' > comb is all firmly waxed 
into the frames, and depending from the 
top-bar like -a comb built on it naturally. 



It is a very bad feature indeed, to have 
combs with bottom-bars that have sagged, 
for they are constantly in danger of killing 
bees by striking the bottom of the hive, or 
the frames below, when used in a two-story 
hive. To prevent combs being built be- 
tween the upper and lower story frames, it 
is desirable to have remaining not more 
than i or f of an inch space between them ; 
but we can not do this unless we can be as- 
sured the bottom-bars are perfectly straight 
and true, and on this account I am very 
much inclined to give the transferiing-wires 
the preference over all other modes of fast- 
ening. While the clasps will fit frames of 
any dimensions, the wires must be made to 
fit the frames they are to be used ou. When 
one has many colonies to transfer, it will be 
well to provide both clasps and wires, using 
at least one wire to hold up the center of the 
bottom-bars that have much weight to sus- 
tain. 

It is now December, 1879, and, after hav- 
ing transferred a number of colonies into 
light frames braced with wires (shown on 
page 56), I unhesitatingly give that plan the 
preference. Only the diagonal wires are 
used, and a knife-cut, in the comb, will let 
the wire clear down to the base of the cells, 
out of sight and out of the way. 

All fastenings, of whatever kind (except 
thorns), should be removed as soon ;is the 
bees have waxed the combs fast to the 
frames, which will often be by the next day, 
if the colony is strong and the honey is com- 
ing in fast. They should be taken away 
soon, because they cover the cells and brood 
more or less. Where the combs were large 
and straight, I have often cut them to fit so 
nicely that the frame could be sprung over 
them so as to hold them securely enough 
without any fastenings of any kind. 

HOW MUCH OF TIIE COMBS IN THE OLD 
HIVES SHALL I5E SAVED? 

If you choose, you ran save pieres not 
more than an inch square; I have taken lit- 
tle bits of comb and tilled frames with them, 
so as to be finally worked out into very fair 
combs. The way I did it was to lay the 
frame on a board just its size and no larger. 
The small bits were then put in place and 
pressed together moderately, until the frame 
was full. This was then placed horizontally, 
board and all, over the frames of a populous 
colony, over night, allowing the bees to go 
up and cluster over the combs. True to 
their nature, they at once set to work, and 
welded or cemented these pieces all together. 
When it was so it would hold, I raised board 



TRANSFERRING. 



1268 



TRANSFERRING. 



and all perpendicularly, and slipped oil the 
board, and hung the frame in an upper 
story, when honey was being gathered. An 
assistant was so sure that these combs could 
never be nice ones, that I marked them with 
a pencil ; a few days after, when the cells 
had all been drawn out evenly, and filled 
with honey, I was very loth myself to admit 
that the thick, beautiful comb I held up 
was the mass of odds and ends of all colors 
which I had thus patched up. On holding 
it up to the light, the old ground-work could 
plainly be seen. While such combs answer 
excellently for extracting, as does any kind 
of drone or store combs, they are not profit- 
able for the brood-chamber. In fact, it is 
doubtful if any natural combs are as profita- 
ble for the brood-apartment as those built 
on our latest improved fdn. s4 On this ac- 
count we seldom, nowadays, save any 
combs in transferring, except those contain- 
ing brood, or the very nicest and straightest 
worker-comb. The rest, after having the 
honey fed out, is condemned lo the wax-ex- 
tractor. I think the readiest way of getting 
this honey out is to transfer the combs and 
feed it out, placing it near enough the out- 
side of the hive, to avoid having the queen 
use it. It may also be placed at the other 
side of the division-board. 

If you have many weak colonies in your 
apiary you may transfer a colony, and di- 
vide the combs and bees around among 
those needing it. In this way you can have 
the combs all fixed and disposed of very 
quickly. 

One who is expert in the business should 
transfer a colony in an hour, on an average ; 
I have taken a heavy one from a box hive, 
and had it completely finished in 40 minutes. 
Where the apiarist goes away from home to 
do such work, the usual price is $1.00 for a 
single colony, and less for more than one, ac- 
cording to the number. 

Some bee-keepers drum out the bees be- 
fore transferring. The drumming is done 
by placing a box or hive over the old one, 
and drumming on the sides of the latter, 
until the greater part of the bees are up in 
the box and can be lifted off. 85 After having 
practiced both ways, I can not but think the 
drumming a waste of time, and a needless 
annoyance to the bees. If you work properly, 
the bees should keep bringing in pollen and 
honey during the whole time; and if you 
place their brood-combs in the same relative 
position *to each other, they need scarcely 
know that their outer shell has been ex- 
changed for a different one. Should the 



bees seem troubled by the different appear- 
ance of their new home, the front board to 
the old hive may be leaned up over the en- 
trance for a few days. 

Many inexperienced persons have report- 
ed having succeeded perfectly in transfer- 
ring, by the above directions, which have 
been in print now for the last five years. 

TRANSFERRING WIIEN THE BEES ARE DIS- 
POSED TO ROIJ. 

I have recommended the period during 
fruit-bloom, because at such a time the bees 
usually get honey enough to prevent rob- 
bing. Should it be necessary, however, to 
do it a little later, say between fruit-bloom 
and clover, use a mosquito-bar tent, like the 
one on page 221, or the one figured below. 




FRAME COVERED WITH MOSQUITO-BAR, TO 

SET OVER A HIVE WHEN ROBBERS 

ARE TROUBLESOME. 

The whole structure, finished complete, 
weighs only 18 lbs. It is 5 feet high, 3 feet 
wide, and 5 feet long. The upright pieces 
are Hxf; the others, I x h The boys have 
two of them now, and they are just jubilant 
over them. The whole structure can be af- 
forded for $1.50 set up, or $1.25 tied up in a 
bundle, mosquito - bar and all. When you 
have combs or the stool in your hands, you 
can carry the '? tent," as they call it, by put- 
ting your head under the top-bar, and walk- 
ing right along to the next hive. 

TRANSFERRING INDOORS. 

If the weather is bad or the bees at all 
disposed to rob, you can, if you choose, carry 
the hive and all into some convenient out- 
building, or into your honey-house, to do the 
transferring. If you can work before a door 
with a window in it, all the better ; but if no 
such door is at hand, do the work before a 
window. When you are through, place the 
new hive with its combs on the old stand, 
take out the window, and shake the bees 
on to the newspaper before the entrance and 
they will all go in. 

If your new hive is placed directly under 



TURNIP. 2 

the window while you are transferring, a 
great many of the bees will collect on the 
transferred combs, keeping the brood warm, 
and being just where you want them when 
the hive is carried to its stand. We have a 
glass door in the honey - house, on purpose 
for such operations. When bees are brought 
in for any purpose, the restless and uneasy 
ones soon collect on the glass, and, by swing- 
ing the door open, they quickly take wing, 
without much danger of admitting robbers. 
My neighbor Shaw has a window on pivots, 
which allow it to be swung the other side 
out, by simply touching a spring. This 
throws the bees on the outside instead of 
the inside of the glass, where they can take 
wing at their leisure. I have often thought 
such an arrangement would be very conven- 
ient for windows in a house-apiary. 

Now, do not take them into a room filled 
with all kinds of dust, rubbish, and cobwebs, 
for they will get all over the room, and get 
lost, and you will have all sorts of trouble. 
There should be only one window in the 
room, and every thing near it should be re- 
moved ; the floor should be clean, and no 
place left for them to crawl into and get lost, 
just as I told you about the outdoor trans- 
ferring. 

A SHORT WAY OF TRANSFERRING FROM 
BOX HIVES. 

A little before swarming-time, pry the top 
from your box hive and set a single story 
Simplicity over it, making all the joints bee- 
tight. Now hang frames filled with fdn. in 
this new hive, and the bees will soon work 
up into it. After the queen gets to laying 
in these combs the bees will soon all move 
up into it and you can lift it off, and trans- 
fer,, or do what you please with the old hive 
and combs. When you are hurried, this 
plan gets your stock gradually into im- 
proved hives, without very much trouble, 
and no mussing with dripping honey. 

TURNIP. The turnip, mustard, cab- 
bage, rape, etc., are all members of one fam- 
ily, and, if I am correct, all bear honey, 
when circumstances are favorable. The 
great enemy of most of these in our locality 
(especially of the rape), is the little black cab- 
bage-flea. The turnip escapes this pest by 
being sown in the fall ; and were it not that 
it comes in bloom at almost the same time 
that the fruit - trees do, I should consider it 
one of the most promising honey-plants. 

In the summer of 1877, Mr. A. W. Kaye, 
of Pewee Valley, Ky., sent me some seed of 
what is called the " Seven -top turnip," say- 
ing that his bees had gathered more pollen 



9 TURNIP. 

from it, in the spring, than from any thing 
else. I sowed the seed about the 1st of Oct., 
on ground where early potatoes had been 
harvested. In Dec. they showed a luxuri- 
ance of beautiful green foliage, and in May, 
following, a sea of yellow blossoms, making 
the prettiest " posy-bed," I believe, that I 
ever saw in my life, and the music of the 
bees humming among the branches was just 
" entrancing," to one who has an ear for 
such music. I never saw so many bees on 
any patch of blossoms of its size in my life, 
as could be seen on them from daylight until 
dark. 

Friend K. recommended the plant partic- 
ularly for pollen; but, besides this, I am in- 
clined to think it will give a large amount 
of honey to the acre. We have much trouble 
here in raising rape and mustard, with the 
small turnip beetle, or flea ; but this turnip- 
patch has never been touched; whether it is 
on account of sowing so late in the fall, or 
because the flea does not fancy it, I am un- 
able to say. The plants seem very hardy, 
and the foliage is most luxuriant, much 
more so than either the rape or Chinese mus- 
tard, which latter plant it much resembles, 
only having larger blossoms. As our patch 
was sown after the first of Oct., and the 
crop could easily be cleared from our land by 
the middle of June, a crop of honey could be 
secured without interfering with the use of 
the land for other purposes. 

Friend K. also recommends the foliage 
for "greens," and says that he sows it in his 
garden for spring and winter use. We tried 
a mess of greens from our patch in Dec, 
and found them excellent. Our seed was 
sown very thickly, in drills about one foot 
apart. This turnip bears only tops, and has 
no enlargement of the root. 

If I could get a ten-acre lot covered with 
such bloom during the month of August, I 
should not hesitate an instant to hand over 
the money for the necessary expenses. If 
we can not get the blossoms in August, we 
can certainly have an abundant supply be- 
tween fruit-bloom and clover. 

Turnip seed is valuable for the oil made 
from it, and also as a food for canary birds. 
If sown on corn-ground at the last cultivat- 
ing, the plants will gain a good hold before 
winter, and in the spring blossom profusely. 
If they are turned under just before going 
out of bloom they make one of the most val- 
uable of soiling crops. Thus a good turnip 
pasturage may be obtained with no extra 
work, except sowing the seed, and the crop 
would be an actual benefit to the soil if 
turned under. 




MmMBashm 

APIARY OF W. II. SHIRLEY, GLKJSTWOOD, MICHIGAN. 



u. 



UNITING BEES. Uniting colonies 
is much like introducing queens, inasmuch 
as no fixed rule can be given for all cases. 
It is a very simple matter to lift the frames, 
bees and all, out of one hive and set them 
into another, where the two are situated side 
by side. Usually there will be no quarrel- 
ing, if this is done when the weather is too 
cold for the bees to fly, but this is not al- 
ways the case. 86 If one colony is placed 
close to one side of the hive, and the other 
to the other side, and they are small enough 
for a vacant comb or two between them, 
they will very rarely fight. After two or 
three days, the bees will be found to have 
united themselves peaceably, and the brood 
and stores may then be placed compactly to- 
gether, and your chaff cushions put in at each 
side. If there are frames containing some 
honey, that can not be put in, they should be 
placed in an upper story, and the bees al- 
lowed to carry it down. You should always 
look to them 20 minutes or half an hour after 
they are put in to one hive, to see if every 
thing is amicable on " both sides of the 
house." If you find any bees fighting, or 
any doubled up on the bottom - board, give 
them such a smoking that they can not tell 
" which from t'other," and after 15 or 20 
minutes, if they are fighting again, give 
them another " dose," and repeat untilthey 
are good to each other. I have never failed 
in getting them peaceable after two or three 
smokings. 

If you wish to unite two colonies so large 
that a single story will not easily contain 
them, which, by the way, I feel sure is always 
poor policy, or if their honey is scattered 
through the whole ten combs in each hive, 
proceed as before, only set one hive over 
the other. If this is done on a cool day, 
and the bees are kept in for two or 
three days, few, if any, will go back to the 
old stand. If the hives stood within 6 feet 
of each other, they will all get back without 
any trouble anyway, for they will hear the 
call of their comrades who have discovered 



the new order of things. Sometimes you 
can take two colonies while flying, and put 
them together without trouble, by making 
the lost bees call their comrades. Only actual 
practice, and acquaintance with the habits 
of bees, will enable you to do this; and if 
you have not that knowledge, you must get 
it by experience. Get a couple of colonies 
that you do not value much, and practice on 
them. As I have said all along, beware of 
robbers, or you will speedily make two col- 
onies into none at all, instead of into one. 

WHAT TO DO WITH THE QUEENS. 

If one of the colonies to be united has been 
several days queenless, all the better ; for a 
queenless colony will often give up its local- 
ity and accept a new one, by simply shaking 
them in front of a hive containing a laying 
queen. From a hive containing neither 
queen nor brood, I have induced the whole 
lot to desert, and go over to a neighboring 
colony, by simply shaking the bees in front 
of it. They were so overjoyed at finding a 
laying queen, that they called all their com- 
rades to the new home, and all hands set to 
work and carried every drop of honey to the 
hive with the fertile queen. By taking ad- 
vantage of this disposition we can often 
make short work of uniting. If you are in 
a hurry, or do not care for the queens, you 
can unite without paying any attention to 
them, and one will be killed; but, as even a 
hybrid queen is now worth 50c, I do not 
think it pays to kill them. Kemove the 
poorest one and keep her safely caged until 
you are sure the other is well received by 
the bees. If she is killed, as is sometimes 
the case, you have the other to replace her. ST 
Where stocks are several rods apart, they 
are often moved a couple of feet a day while 
the bees are flying briskly, until they are 
side by side, and then united as we have di- 
rected. This is so much trouble, that I 
much prefer waiting for cold weather. If 
your bees are in box hives, I should say your 
first job on hand is to transfer them. If 



UNITING BEES. 



27: 



UNITING BEES. 



you have several kinds of hives in your 
apiary you are about as badly off, and the 
remedy is to throw away all but one. My 
friends, those of you who are buying every 
patent hive that comes along, and putting 
your bees into them, you little know how 
much trouble and bother you are making 
yourselves for the years to come. 

In conclusion, I would advise deferring 
the uniting of your bees until we have sev- 
eral cold rainy days, in Oct., for instance, on 
which bees will not fly. 8s Then proceed as 
directed. If you have followed the advice I 
have given, you will have little uniting to 
do, except with the queen-rearing nuclei ; 
and with these, you have only to take the 
hives away and set the frames in the hive 
below, when you are done with them. If 
the hive below is a strong one, as it should 
of course be, just set the frames from the 
nucleus into the upper story, until all the 
brood has hatched. If you wish to make a 
colony of the various nuclei, collect them 
during a cold day, and put them all into one 
hive. If you have bees from 3 or 4, they will 
unite better than if they came from only two 
hives, and you will seldom see a bee go back 
to his old home. A beginner should beware 
of having many weak colonies in the fall, to 
be united. It is much safer to have them 
all strong and ready for winter, long before 
winter comes. 



UNITING NEW SWARMS. 

This is so easily done that I hardly need 
give directions ; in fact, if two swarms come 
out at the same time, they are almost sure 
to unite, and I do not know that I ever heard 
of two such swarms quarreling. One of the 
queens will very soon be killed, but you may 
easily find the extra one by looking for the 
ball of bees that will be found clinging about 
her, very soon after the bees have been join- 
ed together. A swarm can almost always 
be given without trouble, to any swarm that 
; has come out the day previous ; and if you 
will take the trouble to watch them a little, 
I you may unite any swarm with any other 
' new swarm, even if it dame out a week or 
! more before. Smoke them when inclined to 
fight, as I told you before, and make them 
| be good to the new comers. 

UNITING BEES IN THE SPRING. 

Since our spring-dwindling troubles, it has 
; been quite customary to unite a stock that 
has become queenless to one having a 
queen, or to unite two or more weak stocks, 
I to enable them to go through the spring 
' months. The process is much like uniting 
in the fall. Lift out the frames and put 
them together, watching to see that they 
are friendly to the new comers. Bees are 
often united in the spring for the purpose of 
securing great results in honey; and by unit- 
ing the bees and brood, great amounts may 
be obtained from what might be called a 
1 single swarm. 




LAWN OR CHAFF HIVE. 







Ir i 

■h i -v fepf " ii-_„ - 

r • «?* »." « ! ; ; - ' \, : ., " ; 




HEXAGONAL LAWN-HIVE APIARY OF NINETEEN HIVES BELONGING TO N.H.ALLEN, 
KTRKWOOD, MISSOURI. 




APIARY OF JEROME WILTSE, FALLS CITY, NEBRASKA. 



VJBIIiS. The use of a veil over the face 
will often give a beginner a sense of security 
that will enable him to work to much better 
advantage than he would if continually in 
fear of every bee that chanced to buzz near 
him. I well remember the long breath of re- 
lief which I drew when first safely ensconced 
in the wire-cloth fixture that Langstroth de- 
scribes and recommends in his book. It was 
so ponderous and unwieldy that a friend, 
who had come to see my bees, named it the 
"bird-cage"' when he volunteered to help me 
introduce my first Italian queen, if I would 
furnish him with one like my own, to put 
over his head. After a little practice and 
experience, anil a more thorough acquaint- 
ance with bees, veils of all kinds are almost 
always laid aside; still, as beginners invari- 
ably want them, it may be well to give the 
matter some consideration. 72 




WIRE-CLOTH AND LACE KEE- VEILS. 

There are two great objections to the use 
of veils ; one is that they necessarily obstruct 
the vision more or less, and the other is that 
they obstruct the free circulation of air, 
which is so desirable in hot weather, and 
thus tend to make the wearer sweaty, un- 
comfortable, and perhaps nervous and irri- 
table. I need hardly say that one who hand- 
les bees needs to keep "cool," in more senses 
than one, and he also wants the free and 
unobstructed use of all his faculties. Many 



years ago I advised, instead of the wire cloth 
bae-hat, a veil made of black tarlatan, witli 
a rubber cord put in the top, to be slipped 
over the hat, and the lower ends to be tucked 
inside the collar, as shown in the cut. 

After a while I found a fine kind of silk 
lace, called Brussels net, that obstructs the 
vision much less than the tarlatan does, or 
wire cloth either; but as this is quite expen- 
sive, we use it for only that portion of the 
veil that comes directly in front of the eyes, 
and these are the veils which we have used 
for the past half-dozen years perhaps. As 
the tarlatan is not a very strong fabric, we 
have quite recently used, in its place, black 
grenadine. 89 I do not myself use a veil at all, 
or at least very seldom, preferring the chance 
of an occasional sting to having my eyesight 
obstructed, and being hampered with any 
unnecessary clothing, when working in the 
hot sun. Within the past year several at- 
tempts have been made to improve veils on 
botli the points I have mentioned. The 
principal point where clear vision is demand- 
ed is in looking for eggs in old dark combs. 
With a veil, you might decide that your 
queens had not commenced laying, being 
unable to detect the tiny speck of an egg at 
the bottom of the cells; but with the veil re- 
moved, you would be able to see the eggs at 
once. A piece of glass might be framed and 
sewed into the veil just before the eyes, but 
it would be in danger of being broken. To 
remedy this difficulty, Mr. A. Mckerson, of 
Norwalk, Conn., has suggested a thin sheet 
of mica, such as is used for stove-fronts. n " 
This gives a very clear vision, when it is 
perfectly clean ; but, judging from the way 
in which most of the A 15 C class manage, I 
should expect it very soon to get so soiled 
that the wire cloth or lace would be much 
the clearer medium to see eggs through. 
The latest idea is a wire cloth with meshes 
just as large as they possibly can be without 
admitting a bee, and made of very fine hair 
wire. It is found by experiment that the 
wire, lace, or whatever else be used, should 



VEILS. 



275 



VENTILATION. 



be black, rather than any other color. I am 
at present taking steps to have a wire cloth 
of this kind made. The difficulty seems to 
be in having a durable wire cloth, with such 
fine wire and so large a mesh. Such wire 
cloth, besides being cooler than any of the 
other fabrics used, would be much stronger; 
and as a veil is in constant danger of being 
caught and torn on shrubbery, etc., to say 
nothing of the probability of a rent from the 
frantic efforts of the young apiarist to get a 
bee out, which may, by chance, get imprison- 
ed inside, they really ought to be made of 
something as nearly like sheet iron, in 
strength, as possible. It may be well to state 
that no danger need be apprehended from a 
bee who gets inside, for all his energies are 
at once devoted to getting out, instead of to 
stinging, unless, by some chance, he should 
get pinched. A piece of wire cloth about 2| 
feet long by 9 inches wide will be about 
right for most persons. I would have some 
soft fabric attached to it at the top to go 
around the hat, and also at the bottom, to 
tuck inside the collar. Be sure no loose ends 
of wire are left sticking out to catch and 
tear the cloth ; for the annoyance of such 
things when one is writhing under the inflic- 
tion of a sting, does not particularly contrib- 
ute to the Christian frame of mind which a 
bee-keeper, above all other persons, should 
strive to carry constantly with him. 

M. M. Baldridge, of St. Charles, 111., gives 
the following in the Prairie Farmer of May 
17, 1879: 

Some use a hat made of wire cloth, but that is 
very bad for the eyes. I nearly ruined my eyes by 
its use some 20 years ago. In no case would I advise 
its use, for a bee-veil, properly made, is much better. 

Notwithstanding this, a good many still 
adhere to the use of wire cloth, and among 
them is our good friend Mrs. Harrison. We 
give the picture, and her directions for mak- 
ing, from March Gleanings, 1882 : — 

Here we are, dressed cap-Orpic for work in the 
apiary. There is one thing lacking in Ihe picture, 
which we wear when bees are very cross, and we 
did not put it on; for if we had, you could not have 
seen how the cape is made. We put on a linen sack, 
or a gent's vest is buttoned on, and wc then have a 
perfect head-gear, as no bees can gsin access by 
creeping under the cape or around the arms. Our 
assistant will wear a long-sleeved apron, fastened 
around the bottom of the hat, and, if bees are very 
cross, wear leggins or a long skirt. 

The hat is made of green wire gauze, such as 
screens are made of; the top of pasteboard, and 
bottcm of calico. In making, we are careful to 
leave no wires to stick our hands or head when we 
put it on. We first roll up a hem; and if the wires 
stick through, hammer it upon a flatiron. When all 
sticking wires are disposed of, it is bound top and 
bottom, joined at the back, the top and cape sewed 



on. At the bottom of the cape is a wide hem, through 
which 1 a string is run; under one arm is left open, 
and the other is joined with a string, thus forming 
an arm-hole. We put our arm through this hole, slip 
on the hat, and tie it at the open side. When we are 
stooping over a hive, the wire cloth rests upon the 
back of the head; and, to prevent the bees stinging 
through there, a postal card is sewed on the under 
side. Our hands are covered with buckskin gloves, 
which, have deming sewed on to the gauntlets, kept 
in place by clastic. The apron has capacious pock- 
ets, which ai-e always handy for a screw-driver, 
har.dkerchicf. 




BEE-DRESS USED BY MRS. L. HARRISON, OF 
PEORIA, ILLINOIS. 

We never succefded very well with a veil. If wo 
only wanted to walk around Hie apiary, it was all 
right; but when we woiked, getting into all sorts of 
positions, it was sure to get close to our face or 
neck, and stings were the result. 

Teoria, 111., Jan., 18S2. Mks. L. Harrison. 

VENTILATION". I should be tempt- 
ed to pass this subject by as one of little 
importance comparatively, were it to be con- 
sidered only in the light in which it has been 
presented by the venders of patent hives. 

I do not mean that bees do not need venti- 
lation, but that they get it, ordinarily, 
through the entrance, and through the cracks 
and crevices which, as a general thing, are 
found in even the best-made hives, providing 
the hive is properly constructed in other re- 
spects considered under the head of Winter- 
ing. I do not believe in holes made in 
different portions of the hive, and covered 
with wire cloth, because the bees persistently 



VENTILATION. 



276 



VENTILATION. 



wax the wire cloth over, just as soon as they 
get strong enough to be able to do so. If 
we omit the wire cloth, they will, in time, 
build the holes up, by much labor, with walls 
of propolis, until they have effectually stop- 
ped the inconvenient drafts that the improv- 
ed (?) ventilators would admit at all times 
through the hive. During extremely hot 
weather, a powerful colony may need more 
air than is afforded by an ordinary entrance, 
especially if the hive stands fully in the sun. 
In such a case I would much prefer giving 
the bees shade, to cutting ventilation-holes, 
which the bees will soon begin to use as en- 
trances ; and when the hot weather is over, 
and it is desirable to close these entrances, 
you confuse and annoy the bees by so doing. 
On this account I would give all the venti- 
lation that a strong colony might need to 
keep them inside at work in the boxes, by 
simply enlarging the entrance. This can be 
done very readily with the Simplicity hives, 
rind I have frequently given them an en- 
trance, under such circumstances, the whole 
width of the hive, and as much as two or 
three inches broad. The chaff hive with its 
entrance H inches by S has always had all the 
ventilation it seemed to require, because the 
sun can never strike directly on the walls of 
the apartment containing tlie bees and honey. 
For the same reason, the house-apiary with 
its two-inch auger-hole entrance has never re- 
quired any further provision for ventilation. 
The chaff cushions placed over the bees in 
winter are kept over the surplus frames for 
the greater part of the time in summer, to 
confine the heat during cool nights; and from 
their porous nature they allow of the escape 
of more or less air that comes in slowly 
through the entrance, the honey-boxes hav- 
ing no other covering than the broad frames 
that hold the sections and these same chaff 
cushions. I have obtained more surplus hon- 
ey with this arrangement than with any oth- 
er, and am firmly persuaded that a great loss 
of honey often results from allowing such a 
draft of air through the hive that the bees 
can not work the wax, unless during the ex- 
tremely warm weather. To test this matter 
I covered a large colony in the house-apiary, 
with woolen blankets while they were gath- 
ering clover honey, to induce them to remain 
in the boxes, even after the weather had 
turned quite cool. So long as the blankets 
remained on, the bees would remain in the 
boxes working wax ; but as soon as the blank- 
ets were removed, at each time the experi- 
ment was tried, they retreated to the body of 
the hive. The same thing was tried with 
thin-walled hives out of doors. 91 



SMOTHERING BEES BY CLOSING THE 
ENTRANCE. 

Although bees will make out to get along, 
even with a very small entrance, we should 
be very careful about closing the entrance 
entirely, in warm weather, even for only a 
few minutes. Many are the reports we get 
almost every season, of bees destroyed by 
simply closing their entrance, while under- 
taking to stop their swarming for a few 
minutes, until some other colony can be at- 
tended to. See Swarming, Entrances, 
and Robbing, especially the last head, How 
to Stop Bobbing. 

When bees have the swarming fever, as a 
general thing they are gorged with honey, 
and in a feverish state. They are like a man 
who has been taking violent exercise after a 
hearty meal, and require more than an ordi- 
nary amount of air. Their breathing-tubes 
are in different parts of the body, principally 
under the wings; and as soon as the entrance 
is closed, they crowd about it; and when the 
heat of so many becomes suffocating, as it 
will in a very few minutes, the honey is in- 
voluntarily discharged, wetting themselves 
and their companions, and most effectually 
closing their breathing-tubes, in a way that 
causes death to ensue very quickly. I have 
known of heavy swarms being killed in the 
short space of fifteen minutes, when the hive 
was thus closed on them. The heat gener- 
ated by the smothering mass will often be 
great enough to melt down the combs, en- 
veloping bees, brood, honey, and all, in a 
mass almost scalding hot. Bees are some- 
times smothered in this way, in extremely 
hot weather, even when they have very large 
openings covered with wire cloth. In fact, 
I have once or twice had bees, when shipped 
by railroad, in July and August, get hot and 
smother, when the whole top of the hive was 
covered with wire cloth. I took a lesson 
from this, and put wire cloth over both top 
and bottom of the hive, and then put inch 
strips across, so the hive could not be set 
down in such a way as to cover the bottom, 
and have had no more smothering since, 
while being shipped. When thus prepared, 
I have sent the heaviest colonies, during the 
hottest of summer weather, with hives full 
of honey, and had no trouble. See Moving 
Bees. 

how the bees bo their own 
ventilating. 

If you watch a colony of bees during a 
warm day, you will see rows of bees standing 
around the entrance, and clear inside of the 
hive, with their heads all one way, all mak- 
ing their wings go in a peculiar manner, 



VENTILATION. 



211 



VLNEGAIl. 



much as they do in flying ; but instead of 
propelling their bodies along, they propel 
the air behind them, and a pretty strong 
" blow " they get up too, as you may tell by 
holding your hand near them. Well, if the 
air is very hot and close inside the hive, so 
much so that there is danger of the combs 
melting down, they will manage so as to 
send cooling currents clear to the furthest 
parts of the hive, and even up a small hole 
into honey - boxes, where honey - boxes are 
made after such old - fashioned patterns. 
This idea is not by any means new, and 
those who have invented patent ventilators 
will tell us, with a very fair show of reason, 
how many bees are thus employed blowing 
through the hive, that might just as well be 
out in the fields gathering honey. I once 
thought so, and that ventilators were needed; 
but after watching the matter longer, I con- 
cluded the harm done by excessive heat was 
far less than that from cold drafts when they 
were not needed, and that it is better to let 
a few of the bees waste some time in the 
middle of the day, than to have comb-build- 
ing stopped entirely at night, on account of 
the drafts given by these thoroughly venti- 
lated hives. The most prosperous colony I 
ever owned was one that was so completely 
enveloped in chaff that they sent a stream 
of warm air out of their hive during frosty 
nights in March, strong enough to melt the 
frost about one side of the entrance. Of 
course, a stream of cold air went in at the 
opposite side, as fast as the warm air went 
out. When I can get a hive into this condi- 
tion of things, they always prosper; and it is 
on this account that I would have no other 
arrangement for ventilation than that fur- 
nished by the entrance. See Wintering. 

VENTILATING QUEEN - CAGES DURING 
SHIPMENT. 

This is a very simple matter, during quite 
warm weather, for all we have to do is to 
have a broad surface of wire cloth, and they 
will then be sure to have enough air. When 
queens are to be shipped during cool weather, 
it is desirable to have them tucked up as 
warmly as may be, and still have all the air 
they need. Wood for cages is much better 
than metals, because it is a non-conductor 
of heat, and also because it prevents stick- 
iness from their food, by absorbing portions 
that the metal would not absorb. If the 
bees or queens become daubed, they very 
quickly suffocate, for the reasons I have 
given above. 

VINECrAK.. This seems to merit a 
place in our book as being one of the legiti- 



mate products of honey, and, doubtless, in 
many localities it may be profitably manu- 
factured, and sold as honey vinegar — espe- 
cially since the recent low prices of extracted 
honey. As I have had but little practical 
experience in making vinegar from honey, I 
give you the following letters which have ap- 
peared in the back volumes of Gleanings: 

" Some one inquired whether honey vinegar is 
good or not. I will say yes; the best there is made. 
It will not die nor lose its strength like most other 
vinegars, and you can have light or dark vinegar as 
you take light or dark honey to make it from. You 
can make what are called sweet pickles with it, with- 
out any fear of spoiling. Last season a neighbor's 
family bought honey vinegar of me to do their 
choice pickling with when they had cider vinegar of 
their own make, as it was so much better, they said, 
than cider. I can not give any rule for making it, 
as I have made it from the washings of vessels used 
in extracting, and of the cappings after the honey 
was pretty well drained out; but there has got to be 
such a demand for it in our neighborhood that I 
shall have to make some from the clear honey this 
year." R. R. Murphy. 

Fulton, Ills., May 6, 1876. 



I can give my testimony in favor of honey vinegar. 
We have used no other for two years; and nearly 
every one who tastes our pickles asks my wife for 
her recipe for making them. When told that we 
used nothing but honey vinegar, they are surprised, 
and say that they have always heard it would not 
keep pickles. The only trouble that we have had is, 
it keeps getting stronger and stronger, and we have 
to occasionally put in some water. As we have used 
only the waste honey from extracting, we can not 
give the proportions of honey and water, but usual- 
ly have it too sweet at first, and have to add more 
water. If it does not sour enough, we put it in a 
keg and set it in the sun with a black junk-bottle in 
the bung. Do you think the bottle has any thing to 
do with the circulation of air? I have thought it 
might. G. W. Gates. 

Bartlett, Tenn., May 29, 1876, 

The following, which we extract from the 
American Bee Journal for 1883, page 143, 
contains several hints in regard to the mat- 
ter of making vinegar from honey: 

" The cappings should be put into a dripper and 
allowed to remain about 24 hours, then put into as 
much water as you may reasonably expect to 
sweeten a little sweeter than good new cider, with 
the cappings that you expect to have. I fill an or- 
dinary whisky-barrel with water, and the honey 
from the cappings, in extracting 1000 of honey, usu- 
ally makes it sweet enough. The cappings are left 
in the water an hour or two, then skimmed out and 
put into a strainer to drip dry, which they will do 
in 10 or 12 hours. The drippings are, of course, 
saved and put into the barrel. 

"This slightly sweetened water soon begins to 
' work,' and the scum may be taken off with a wire 
cloth, or other skimmer, as often as necessary, until 
nothing rises. This sweetened water passes through 
all the stages of fermentation, the same as cider, until 
it reaches the point called vinegar. One year, perhaps 
less, makes it such vinegar as you saw at Kalama- 
zoo. We have used no other vinegar in our family 
18 



VINEGAR. 



278 



VINEGAR. 



for 30 years, except a year or two when we first 
came to Michigan, 14 years ago, when I had no bees. 

"There is, probably, no profit in making- honey 
vinegar from good salable honey, but in keeping 
bees there is often waste honey that is of little value. 
1 know of no manner of getting cappings ready for 
making into wax that is so convenient and profita- 
ble, and the vinegar is known to be pure. 

" I keep the barrel covered with a cotton cloth, 



and there is not much danger of getting the water 

too sweet. If very sweet, it takes longer to get it 

to vinegar; but it is better when it does get there. 

Abronia, Mich. T. F. Bingham. 

Another friend, H. A. Palmer, of Madora, 
Iowa, says, "One pound of honey will make 
three gallons of better vinegar than one can 
buy." 9 ' 




SIMPLICITY-HIVE TOOL-BOX. 



w. 



WATER FOB. BEES. That bees 
need water, has been pretty well demonstrat- 
ed ; but the best means of supplying them 
has not been very satisfactorily settled. 
The amount of water needed depends much 
on whether they are rearing brood in consid- 
erable quantities or not, and whether their 
food is old, thick (possibly candied) honey, 
or new honey right from the fields. If the 
latter, it contains usually a large quantity 
of water that must be expelled before the 
honey can be considered ripened. See Ven- 
tilation. Well, while the bees are gather- 
ing this thin, raw honey, as a matter of 
course they will not need much water, if 
any at all, besides what the honey affords 
them. This new honey is frequently so thin 
that it runs out of the combs like sweetened 
water, when they are turned horizontally; 
and when tasted, it seems, in reality, but 
sweetened water. The excess of moisture 
is probably — I say probably, for I do not 
know that we have positive proof on the 
matter — expelled by the strong currents of 
air the bees keep circulating through the 
hive, which takes up the watery particles, 
and speedily reduces the honey to such a 
consistency that it will not sour. If you will 
examine a hive very early in the morning 
during the height of the honey-season, you 
will find the blast of air that comes out, 
quite heavily charged with moisture; and 
when the weather is a little cool, this mois- 
ture often condenses and accumulates on 
the alighting - board, until it forms a little 
pool of water. Where the alighting -board 
was of the right shape to retain the water, I 
have seen it so deep as to drown bees in 
passing out. These bees, it would seem, 
were at least in no need of having water 
supplied them. While I am on the subject, 
I will mention another way which, as I have 
discovered, the bees have of expelling the 
liquid portions from very thin honey. I 
guess I will say it is the way in which I 
think they do it, for I may be mistaken. I 



had several colonies in a small greenhouse 
for experiment. They were fed on sweet- 
ened water until they stored a large amount 
in their combs. When the sun warmed up 
the air in the morning, they would come out 
in great numbers and sport in the sunshine; 
and by taking a post where they came be- 
tween my eye and the sun, I distinctly saw 
them discharge from their bodies what 
seemed to be only pure water. These bees 
had been fed until they had their hives so 
full of the thin syrup that they had even 
crowded out the eggs. When coming out of 
their hives, they seemed heavily laden ; but 
those returning were so much reduced in 
size as to make quite a contrast to those 
going out. By watching the matter, it 
seemed quite plain that they took the thin 
food into their stomachs, and, after a time, 
longer or shorter, were able to expel the 
liquid portion while on the wing, and then 
return the thick portion to the cells. If I 
am in error in this, I should like to be cor- 
rected." 3 It may be well to state in this con- 
nection, that honey, no matter how thin, will 
never sour while in the hive, under the care 
of a sufficient number of bees; but if a comb 
of this thin honey be taken away from them, 
and kept outside of the hive, it will sour 
very quickly. 

As the following little sketch, given in 
Gleanings, in July, 1874, gives a vivid 
idea of one way of giving bees water, and of 
the way they use it, I give it entire. 

WATER FOB BEES. 

" They are robbing the Quinby hive now," 
Mrs. N. had said to Novice who was suffer- 
ing from a "tormented headache," to use his 
own expression, one pleasant Sunday after- 
noon in May. lie had often boasted he 
didn't have headaches, and seemed, so the 
women-folks say, to regard the matter as a 
kind of feminine weakness that one should 
be ashamed of; but now he was making more 
of a row about it than a whole dozen of ttie 



WATER FOR BEES. 



280 



WATER FOR BEES. 



weaker sex ; besides this, some neighboring 
black bees had just discovered that a quanti- 
ty of combs of nicely sealed sugar syrup 
were but poorly guarded by a few miserably 
weak Italian stocks. Under the circum- 
stances, Mrs. N. and Master Ernest had been 
directed to close the entrances of such hives 
as failed to make a successful resistance, by 
banking the sawdust up in front. They 
soon reported that the robbers were going 
out and in under the cover of the Quinby 
hive, it having warped enough to allow this. 
In this dilemma, Novice was again consult- 
ed, and was obliged to cease rolling and 
tumbling on the bed where he lay, long 
enough to direct that stovcwood be piled on 
the cover until the cracks were closed. This 
was done, and Mrs. N., for additional securi- 
ty, placed on the center of the top of the 
hive a large stone jar, inverted. 

When Novice awoke next morning at 
about his usual hour — 5 o'clock— although a 
little sadder than usual, and perhaps wiser, 
his head was free from pain, and he, of 
course, repaired at once to the apiary, the 
scene of yesterday's troubles and turmoils. 

A refreshing shower, which had been 
much needed, had materially changed the 
aspect of things; and as the locust-blossoms 
had opened during the night, all robbing 
had ceased, and every thing was lovely. 

On turning his eyes toward the Quinby 
hive, which stood under the shade of a dwarf 
pear-tree, he beheld a perfect circle of bees 
for all the world like beads strung on a 
string, greedily sipping the rain water from 
the concave bottom of that inverted stone 
jar. It was raised up so they could find it 
readily, was clean, and so shallow it could 
not drown them, and altogether seemed just 
the thing. Later, after Blue Eyes was up, 
the numbers had increased; and so intent 
were they on sipping the pure water, that 
she could touch them with her fingers with- 
out their scarcely noticing the interruption. 
Of course the supply was soon out, or would 
have been had we not replenished it; the 
concavity held about a teacupful, and Miss 
Maudie was commissioned to see that they 
did not "get out." But they did, for all that ; 
for during hot days, several teacupfuls 
were needed, partly on account of evapora- 
tion, and it only remained for Novice to de- 
vise a cheap and simple mechanical arrange- 
ment to keep constantly full the shallow 
cavity in the bottom of that stone jar. This 
he did very quickly by filling a quart glass 
fruit-jar with water ; a piece of paper was 
laid over the mouth until it could be invert- 



ed on the stone jar, and then the paper was 
drawn out. Of course, when the water be- 
came exhausted so as to allow a bubble of 
air to go up into the jar, a little more water 
came down ; and so on. A quart of water 
lasts several days, and the receptacle being 
glass, we can always see when it needs re- 
plenishing. AVe were amused this morning 
to see the usual number of bees around it, 
and more going and coming quickly, even 
though it was raining quite briskly. Many 
of the bees were quite young Italians that, 
it seems, had become so accustomed to go- 
ing to a certain spot for water, that they 
couldn't think of doing otherwise, even 
though water was raining down all about 
them. We are well aware, the principle of 
the above is not new, as feeders on a similar 
plan are in use ; but the plan of supplying 
fresh water is new, at least to us. We have 
in former years tried arrangements with 
shavings, water allowed to drip on a board, 
and a cloth laid over a vessel full of water; 
but all of them were soon abandoned because 
they were too much trouble, or were untidy, 
etc., and the bees were allowed to go to dis- 
tant muddy streams, to the pump, etc. Is it 
not a fact, that during the working season 
the workers mostly fail from worn - out 
wings V and, if this is the case, should we 
not save them all we can by having supplies 
near at hand— at least water, if we can do 
nothing further V 

Our 4000 basswood - trees were planted 
with this end in view; that is, to give them 
as much forage within one-fourth mile of 
their hives as they usually get in an area of 
one and a half or two miles around their hives. 

The device we have mentioned can, of 
course, be used for out-door feeding, and it 
is perfectly secure from waste ; by inverting 
a tumbler of syrup in a saucer, we can also 
use it for feeding in the hives, when there 
is no occasion to feed rapidly. This latter 
plan has been given several times in print 
already. 

If the bees that frequent your water - jar 
come in large numbers, it may not flow 
from the jar fast enough, unless the mouth 
is raised slightly ; this we do by means of a 
a few bits of window glass. 



IMPROVEMENT ON THE ABOVE. 

The above was written just about four 
years ago, this present month. I have just 
been improving on it a little, and, below, 
submit the arrangement as we have it in the 
apiary now, for watering bees. Get a piece 
of board about a foot square, and with a 



WATEE FOE BEES. 



281 



WATEE FOE BEES. 




WATERING- JAR 

AND BOARD, OR 

OPEN-AIR 

FEEDER. 



saw, or saws, such as we use for grooving 
the ends of the pieces composing the section 
boxes, plow grooves from one end of the 
board to the other, being careful that they 
do not run quite out. Now with a single 
saw, cut a groove from each corner to the 
opposite one, and a couple more across the 
grain of the wood, near 
the middle, and the 
board is done. These 
grooves should be about 
i inch deep, and about 
the same distance from 
each other. Invert the 
jar of water on the cen- 
ter of the board, and the 
grooves will keep just 
full of water, as long as 
any remains in the jar, 
and yet they will never 
run over. The bees can 
stand on the walls of 
wood that separate the 
grooves, as well as on a 
sheet of their own comb, 
and with as little danger 
of getting daubed, or 
wetted. Now, this ar- 
rangement makes per- 
haps the best feeder ever invented, for 
open-air feeding (see Feeding and Feed- 
ers) ; for all we have to do is to use sweet- 
need water, instead of water only. Put a 
pound of coffee sugar in the jar, fill up with 
water, cover it with your hand, and shake 
briskly, and it is ready for business. Lay a 
paper over the mouth of the jar, as before, 
invert it on the center of the board where 
the grooves cross, draw out the paper, and, 
if it is at a time when robber bees are 
hovering about, some one will soon find it. 
After the first bee has gone home with one 
load, he will bring others back with him, 
and pretty soon the board will be covered 
with them, sipping like a lot of pigs out of a 
trough. As the syrup goes down in the 
grooves, air will be allowed to come in, and 
you can see, by the bubbles rising in the 
jar, just how fast they are taking the syrup. 
I have just been watching one of these 
feeders (May 31, 1879); and after the bees 
got well at work, a bubble would be on its 
way to the surface in the jar almost con- 
stantly, and the liquid was carried off by 
the little fellows at the rate of about 1 inch 
in 10 minutes. This would empty the i-gal- 
lon jar in about an hour and a half. Not a 
bee is daubed, and they flit away to their 
hives as easily as if they had loaded up 



from the blossoms on the trees. This feed- 
er answers admirably for feeding grape 
sugar; for all we have to do is to fill the jar 
with lumps of it, and pour in water until it 
is filled, and then invert as described. The 
passage of the bubbles upward tends to dis- 
solve the sugar rapidly. Old, thick, or can- 
died honey may be fed in the same way; and 
when the bees stop, the feed stops coming 
down into the grooves. This, will perhaps, 
be the best arrangement we can have for 
feeding grape sugar to keep brood - rearing 
going on, during a season of drought or 
scarcity. 

In the above engraving, the jar and board 
are represented as standing on a block of 
stone, but they may be placed on a box or 
block of wood as well. We keep the device 
a few rods from the apiary, under a clump 
of trees, to call away the robbers from about 
the hives. Of course, the arrangement may 
be placed inside the hives, by putting in a 
division -board, or setting it in an upper 
story. 

Ater the foregoing arrangement had ap- 
peared in the earlier editions of our ABC 
book, a kind friend in Scotland made me a 
present of the beautiful design for glass 
vases which we picture below. It now 
stands near the center of our apiary, and is 
indeed a thing of beauty. Accompanying 
it he wrote the following kind note: 




A WATER -FOUNTAIN FOR THE BEE* FROM 
* FAR-AWAY SCOTLAND, 



WATER FOR BEE.S. 



282 



WATER FOR BEES. 



Since beginning- bee-keeping-, many years ago, I 
have always regularly supplied water to my bees by 
various modes, and send along with this a vase for 
your acceptance. 

The watering-stage on top, with gutters from a 
common center to a circular one, outer circumfer- 
ence, I had originally cut in marble; but being too 
expensive for general use, I applied to a large pot- 
tery establishment, and from it had a mold made and 
copies reproduced in polished white earthenware. 
They require great pains in firing, to preserve a true 
level, but are much superior, and do not split off 
like wooden ones. The bottomless water-bottle, or 
barrel, set thereon, is fern engraved, and has a nice 
cool refreshing effect to the eye in hot weather. 

J. M. McPhedrox. 

CraigKct, Renfrewshire, Scotland, Dec. 7, 1882. 

Perhaps I should explain to our readers, 
that we have cut down the height of the ped- 
estal some in our engraving, but it shows 
pretty well the handsome desigh our friend 
McPhedron has furnished us. I know wood 
is hardly the thing for the base of our water- 
ing-jar, and some of the friends may remem- 
ber I first used a stone washboard, with the 
sides of the grooves stopped with wax ; but 
the groves were too large, and the bees push- 
ed under, and rose up into the jar, and were 
drowned. The grooves need to be so small 
that a bee can not even wedge his head in 
one of them; for if lie does, many will get 
fast and die ; and who wants to see dead 
bees sticking around a nice feeder V After 
this I had a block of sandstone hewed out, 
and set the water-jar in a cavity in the top 
of this ; but to my surprise I found the 
sandstone would take up a whole pail of wa- 
ter in no time, and during a dry atmosphere 
it would absorb and give off water about as 
last as I could bring it. 

If you wish to give them a supply that will 
last them a month or more, it may be well to 
get a large glass bottle or carboy, at the 
drng - store, and your bees will then have 
water during the season, all they can 
use. Where there is a spring near you 
that can be conducted to the apiary, a very 
pretty watering - place can be made. Be 
sure that it is so arranged that the bees can 
not get drowned. A little fountain, where 
the spring is high enough to allow it, is a 
very pretty addition to the apiary. I once 
had one made with an iron vase, perhaps 
eighteen inches across. This basin was al- 
ways full, and overflowing slightly; and dur- 
ing the warm weather all summer long, bees 
would be sipping the water around the edge; 
sometimes they stood side by side clear 
around the edge of the vase, making a sight 
that was enough to call forth exclamations 
of surprise from almost anybody, bee-keep- 
er or not. The fountain was supplied with I 



water from a large pine box, placed on the 
roof of the wood-house, and itself supplied 
by the eave-spout from the upright part of 
the building. When the box was full it ran 
over on the roof and down into the cistern 
as usual, so the arrangement required no 
special supervision, so long as we had rciin 
as often as once a week. The connection 
between the box and the fountain near the 
apiary was by 1-inch iron pipe. The bees 
never drowned in this fountain, bocauso the 
vase was always full and overflowing. If a 
bee flew in, or got pushed in by his compan- 
ions, he soon buzzed over to the side, aud 
walked out, having no perpendicular sides 
to climb up. Below I give you an engraving 
of the vase and fountain. 




FOUNTAIN FOR GIVING 13EES ACCESS TO 
WATER. 

You will observe a stop-cock at the lower 
part of the jet. This is for the purpose of 
regulating the supply of water. During a 
dry time it is to be turned so as to just keep 
the vase full, and the same during windy 
days, when the water would be blown away. 
When Ave had still evenings, the jet was 
opened so as to throw a stream perhaps six 
feet high. Around the fountain we had 
flowers of different kinds. It is hard to 
imagine a prettier adjunct to an apiary than 
a watering-fountain surrounded with flowers 
humming with busy laborers. 

During some experiments in the same 
greenhouse I have mentioned, I put a small 
colony into the lamp nursery, and warmed 
it up until their hive indicated over 100 de- 
grees. The bees then went out, and began 
flying around the room as if in quest of 
something. I fixed the same watering-jar I 
have mentioned in one corner of the room, 
and they pretty soon found it and were busy 



WAX. 



WAX. 



carrying water into the hive as fast as they 
could load up and unload. By turning the 
lamp up or down so as to increase or dimin- 
ish the temperature, I could easily make 
them stop and commence carrying water, at 
pleasure. Does not this seem to indicate 
that hives should be shaded, during the ex- 
treme heat of the summer weather? Colo- 
nies in the same room whose hives were not 
warmed showed no disposition to gather wa- 
ter at all, although they were rearing brood 
in considerable quantities. 

SALT WATER FOR BEES. 

At times, bees unquestionably show a 
fondness for salt water, and I presume they 
should have access to salt in some way, as 
well as others of the animal kingdom. It is 
generally agreed, I believe, that cattle, hors- 
es, sheep, etc., must have salt, or they will 
suffer.. I know of no reason why bees 
should not come under the same law. They 
seem to have a preference for it in a much 
diluted form, and are very often seen eager- 
ly hovering over barrels containing refuse 
brine. I have seen them eagerly digging in 
the sawdust, where brine had been spilled 
or thrown out, showing their craving for it. 
Within the past year, 1879, a great many 
plans have been given for feeding bees salt, 
but none of them are any simpler or easier 
than the one for giving them water, which I 
have already illustrated. It may be well to 
have two watering-places, one with the wa- 
ter slightly salted, and the other of pure wa- 
ter; you can then easily tell which your bees 
prefer. 

If no place is furnished for the bees to get 
water, they usually go to creeks or puddles 
near by. Our own have quite a fashion of 
congregating about the kitchen pump, and 
Mrs. E. says she knows they hear the pump; 
for just after water has been drawn, they 
come in considerable numbers, and sip the 
water that is spilled on the stones. Some of 
our subscribers have complained that they 
could not keep their bees from going to 
their neighbor's pumps, and thus annoying 
them. I think you will have no difficulty, 
if you provide an arrangement such as 1 
have described, and keep water in it during 
the whole Avarm season. It may take them 
some little time to get used to going to the 
precise spot; but after it is once learned, 
they will never forget it. Look out for the 
comfort and convenience of these little 
friends of ours, and they will, in time, con- 
tribute to our comfort and convenience. 

WAX. Whether bees make honey, or 
simply collect it, may be a subject of discus- 



sion ; but we believe there is no question in 
regard to wax, for bees do assuredly make it. 
If you have your doubts, however, just 
watch them closely during the height of the 
honey - harvest, or, what is perhaps better, 
feed a colony heavily on sugar syrup for 
about 3 days during warm weather. At the 
end of the second or third day, by looking 
closely, you will see little pearly disks of wax, 
somewhat resembling fish-scales, protruding 
from between the rings on the under side of 
the body of the bee ; and, if you examine 
with a microscope, you will find these little 
wax cakes of rare beauty. Sometimes, es- 
pecially when the bees are being fed heavily, 
these wax scales will fall down on the bot- 
tom-board and may be scraped up in consid- 
erable quantities, seeming for some reason 
to have been unwanted. During the sea- 
sons of the natural secretion of the wax, if 
the colony has a hive affording plenty of 
room for surplus, we believe these wax 
scales are seldom wasted. At the swarming- 
time, there seems to be an unusual number 
of bees provided with these wax scales ; for, 
if they have remained clustered on a limb 
for only a few minutes, bits of wax are found 
attached, as if they were going to start comb. 
When they are domiciled in their new hive, 
comes the time, if the hive pleases them, 
for them to show their astonishing skill and 
dexterity in fabricating the honey-comb. 

In the attempts that have been made to 
supply material for artificial comb, we have 
had a view of the wondrous skill with which 
nature supplies just what is needed for the 
safety and well - being of her creatures. 
Many substances seem, at first view, to have 
all the requirements needed ; but when we 
discover that the material must be sufficient- 
ly soft to be readily molded at the ordinary 
temperature of the hive, and yet be in no 
danger of melting down during the intense 
heat of midsummer, we see that perhaps no 
other material than just the wax Miey secrete 
can come anywhere near answering the 
purpose. Wax melts at about 145° in its 
natural yellow state, but becomes so soft 
that it may be molded by pressure at a tem- 
perature of about 100° or less. When this 
yellow wax is exposed to the sun and mois- 
ture in the shape of thin ribbons, it gradual- 
ly loses its yellow color, and becomes white. 
Its melting-point is also raised by this change 
about 12°, yet it is still readily worked into 
comb if given to the bees during hot wea- 
ther; and when raised up into cells, it has a 
most beautiful appearance of snowy white- 
ness. This, however, is soon soiled and col- 



WAX. 



234 



WAX. 



ored, if left in the hive; for, neat as bees are 
said to be, they have a habit of running over 
the clean white combs with muddy, or at 
least dirty feet. With old and dark combs 
this might be unnoticed ; but in a hive fur- 
nished with combs made from bleached 
foundations, it becomes very apparent. 

Like other folks, the bees seem more care- 
fid of their best rooms, for the surplus-hon- 
ey boxes are kept much cleaner than the or- 
dinary working-room, or brood-apartment, 
though this may not be intentional after all, 
for it is principally the young bees that have 
never been out in the fields, that work at 
comb-building and in the boxes. On this 
account, clean, yellow wax, when used for 
foundations, will give very nearly as tine 
box honey, when tilled and capped over, as 
does the bleached. As the latter is consid- 
erably harder than the yellow, it is not 
worked into comb as rapidly. When the 
bees are needing room they will fre- 
quently raise a whole sheet of yellow fdn. 
into very fair comb in a single night, while 
it wovdd require nearly double the time, per- 
haps to do the same with the bleached. 

Until somebody shall discover a use for 
propolis, we shall have to consider the prod- 
ucts of the apiary but two in number, wax 
and honey. It is true, bees and queens are 
now quite marketable commodities ; but as 
they are bought only for the wax and honey 
they may produce, they can hardly be con- 
sidered as legitimate apiarian products. 

The manner of getting the honey into a 
marketable shape has been very fully dis- 
cussed, and great improvement has been 
made in this particular, within the past few 
years; but the operation of rendering the 
combs into clean, nice wax so as to be at- 
tractive to the eye of purchasers, has been 
very little improved since the time when 
our grandmothers used to boil them in a 
large kettle, and squeeze the wax from the 
melted mass through a cloth or bag, much 
in the way lard is expressed. Our engra- 
in g given shows one of the implements that 
was ever offered for sale. It is called the 
Swiss wax extractor ; and, if I am correct, 
was introduced into our country about the 
year 1869, by Mr. A. Gray, of Eeily, O. The 
following report in regard to it, furnished 
by Adam Grimm, of Jefferson, Wis., I ex- 
tract from the American Bee Journal, of 
April, 1871. 

WAX EXTRACTOR. 

It is only a few years since we got the melex- 
tractor, and we have by its aid succeeded in doub- 
ling and even trebling our yield of honey. And 
now, again, our brethren across the pecan have 



sent us an apparatus that is of great value to the 
bee-keeper. It is what I venture to name the wax 
extractor, an apparatus devised by Prof. Gerster, of 
Berne, in Switzerland, for the purpose of extract- 
ing wax from the combs. While all bee-keepers 
agree, that all nice, not too old, comb should be 
saved, it will also be conceded that in an apiary of 
some size and age, an amount of comb will continu- 
ally accumulate that is only good for rendering into 
wax. A bee-keeper whose main object in keeping 
bees is profit will therefore need an apparatus for 
rendering this wax, whenever he gets a supply of 
combs no longer serviceable in the hives ; and it 
becomes of great importance that the wax should 
be extracted before the moths get hold of it, store it 
with eggs, and a horde of troublesome and de- 
structive millers are bred for future annoyance. 
An apparatus should be had, too, by which all the 
wax that can possibly be got out of very old combs 
can be secured, of a quality that will command the 
highest market price. 

Such an apparatus we get in the one exhibited at 
the Tndianapolis Convention by my friend, A. Gray, 
and which was handed over to me to be tested. My 
wife, who usually has to do a large share of the 
work connected with the straining of wax, and has 
often complained, in former days, of having her 
kitchen floor, stove, kettles, and pans, bedaubed 
with wax, is delighted with this new invention. She 
can now with ease strain all the wax, without the 
aid of any other person, and without being hindered 
thereby in her other work. In cold weather, she 
says, she will not need an extra stick of wood ; but 
the greatest point of superiority is the utter impos- 
sibility of the contents of the vessel boiling over; a 
feature alone important enough to assure the 
adoption of this mode of rendering wax. How oft- 
en in former days, from momentary inattention, did 
we find the boiling liquid flowing over the stove 
and down to the floor, a misadventure to which we 
arc not here exposed ; 




THE GERSTER WAX-EXTRACTOR. 

The wax extracted by this apparatus is of the 
brightest yellow color I have ever seen, even when 
it is extracted from very old dark combs. It is free 
from all resinous matter, and will doubtless bring 
the highest price in the market. I am satisfied, too, 
that the refuse is as clear of wax as we ever get it 
by any other process, if tried till it stops running. 
There is but one drawback connected with it. The 
women say they do not get through with the ex-. 
trading as speedily as when we used the cider- 
press, by means of which three men could render 
100 lbs. per day. When very old combs are to be 
rendered, not over 20 lbs. can be extracted in one 
day. But as the time when bees were brimstoned 
and all their 0°n? 1 ? s r e »(1 Pre l! iP t0 wa * >S now WW- 



WAX. 



285 



WAX. 



ly over, and the chances for getting large quantities 
of wax are thus gone or going by, I cheerfully rec- 
ommend the wax-extractor exhibited at the Indian- 
apolis Convention by Mr. Gray, as the next best 
thing to the melextractor. A. Grimm. 

Jefferson, Wis. 

Friend Grimm has given pretty faithful- 
ly, in his article, the good and bad points of 
the machine. 

The basket, B, is made of perforated tin, 
and it is into this that the pieces of comb, 
cappings, etc., are to be put, and allowed to 
drain into a pan or some convenient vessel. 
It is true, you can put them into the ex- 
tractor, honey and all, and the spout, D, 
will deliver both wax and honey into the 
pan or other vessel set to catch it; and when 
the wax is cold, it may be lifted from the 
honey below, in a solid cake ; but the honey 
is then dark, and fit only for vinegar, or for 
feeding bees ; whereas, if drained before 
being subjected to heat, we get the very 
best and nicest liquid honey, especially if it 
is cappings that are to be rendered; be- 
cause the honey that adheres to the cap- 
pings, is always that which has been sealed 
up. When the basket, B, is filled with 
drained cappings, or bits of comb, the 
cover of A is to be removed, and the basket 
placed inside, resting on the fixed shallow 
pan, shown where the side is cut away. 
This pan has three pieces fixed near its in- 
side rim (only two of which are visible), to 
support the basket a little distance from the 
bottom, and the spout, D, is put into this 
shallow dish, so as to take all the wax; as it 
falls from the perforated basket above. 
Now, to set the machine working we have 
only to supply steam around the basket. 
We do this by setting it over a pan or ket- 
tle of boiling water, or, what is better, a cop- 
per bottomed steam generator, often sold 
with the apparatus. The latter utensil will 
do very well to catch the drippings of the 
honey, if a cork is fitted tightly in the tube, 
D. I would advise you to keep the cover 
on and this tube corked at all times, if you 
do not wish robber-bees "to learn that the 
machine is almost always a nice place for 
their depredations. If you do this, you can 
keep it in the apiary, and throw every bit of 
comb into it, as soon as found. 

If you will go back to Grimm"s descrip 
tion, you will see that he calls the machine 
slow, and says that his wife could not well 
get out more than 20 lbs. a day. I think I 
should put it at 50 lbs., or even more but it 
is not as rapid as the cider-press he speaks 
of. 
A modification of the Gerster wax-extrac- 



tor, and one that works much more rapidly, 
is seen below. 




JONES 7 IMPROVED WAX-EXTKACTOK. 

It was devised and given gratuitously to us 
by D. A. Jones, of whom we have before 
made mention. 

The drawings will make the matter plain, 
with a little explanation. The plan is not 
very much different from our Swiss wax- 
extractor, only that the copper-bottomed 
steam-generator is a fixture, and that the 
steam is admitted right into the center of the 
mass of comb. 

The can is almost exactly the size of our 
10-gallon flour or honey can, but the bottom 
is copper. About 6 in. up from the bottom, 
a swage is run in the can, that catches and 
holds a second bottom, so it may be securely 
soldered. This second bottom has a hole in 
the center, 7i in. in diameter. Around this 
hole a tin curb is put, 2J- in. high, with a wire 
around the top, and this completes the can 
itself. By reference to the second cut you 
will see this second bottom, and you will also 
see that it slopes a little toward the outer 
sides of the can. This is to carry the wax to 
the outside, so it may run around and finally 
be carried out by the long exit pipe. The 
other funnel-shaped pipe, right by its side, is 
for pouring in the water that generates the 
steam. Well, now, to prevent the wax from 
dropping down that large hole, into the wa- 
ter, a sloping cover is set over the hole, 
Three legs keep it from resting right on the 



WAX. 



2S6 



WAX. 



curb, that the steam may get out easily, and 
in the center rises the tube that carries the 
steam into the center or the wax. Xow 
when we set in the perforated wax-basket, 
shown in figure 3, we have the whole thing 
complete. You see this basket has a center 
of the same perforated zinc, that slips over 
the tiu steam-pipe. The cover to the whole 
is an ordinary tin sloping cover. Here is 
what friend Jones writes in regard to the 
machine:— 

1 send you electros of wax-extractor. They are, 
as I think, the nearest to what we want of any thing- 
yet got up, and are patented in Canada. I think 
that you can confer no greater favor on the people 
of the United States than to make them. Just place 
the one I send you alongside of four "Gcrster" ex- 
tractors, and see if mine doesn't beat them all. You 
can make the perforated basket of tin instead of 
/,i lie, if you choose. My retail price is $1.51. You 
can do them, I guess, at the same, and make a profit. 
D. A. Jones. 

Heeton.Ont., Canada, Feb. 1.1, 1SS3. 

Mr. Wm. W. Cary, of Colerain, Mass., 
sends us the following description of a plan 
similar to the cider press, which, I think, 
might prove of much value, if a large quan- 
tity of wax is to be got out, as is often the 
case where many stocks are to be transfer- 
red: 

Mr. A. I. /Joot.^Below you will find a description 
of Gary's wax-press. I call it Gary's, because I 
have never seen or heard of any thing like it. The 
idea suggested itself to me, from the way in which 
I press my cider, in burlap and racks, just as in the 
wax-press. 

CARY'S WAX-PRESS. 

Make a boiler of good heavy tin, 18 in. square by 
13 in. high, inside measure. Solder stout handles on 
two of the sides, and put a spout on one of the other 
sides, about 4 inches from the top. The spout con- 
sists of a tunnel, 3 in. in diameter at the top and 1 in. 
at the small end, and about 3 in. long, flattened at 
the large end so as to make it oval-shaped. This is 
for running off the wax, and the mouth of it should 
be 3 or 4 in. wide by 1 high on the inside of the boil- 
er. Now cut out a hole on one side of the boiler, and 
solder on the spout, which will need a brace to hold 
it steady. Perhaps one of your molasses-gates for 
extractors would be a good thing soldered to this 
spout ; we use a cork, however. 

Now make 6 racks of pine strips, V 2 inch wide by 
?b thick. The slats should be planed on all sides. 
Cut them 17*4 in. long, and take 2 strips % thick by 
1 in. wide and 17'/4 in. long, and nail the other strips 
on crosswise, leaving % in. plump between them. 
Next, make a box 1by 2 x.lb l A, without top or bottom, 
and make it of l /Hnch boards, 3 inches wide. This 
is what cider-makers call a form, or hoop, and is 
used for laying up the cheese. Now get burlap, 
such as the factories use for baling their cloth. Cut 
it into pieces 28 or 30 in. square. Five of these are 
enough, as 5 layers will fill the boiler. Now take the 
old comb and pound it up fine, lay dowu a rack, put 
on the form, spread on a burlap, and fill up with 
the comb; then double in the sides, raise all from 
the form, and place in the boiler. Fill 5 racks in 



this way, and put the 6th on top, and a board, for a 
follower, on top of this, with a block 6 or 8 in. square 
which should be fastened to the follower. Perhaps 
all this will make the boiler more than full, but it 
will soon settle down when it comes to a boil. A 
better way is to put the boiler on the stove, with 2 
pails of water in it, before you commence. This 
saves time in heating, and the layers can be lowered 
in with hooks made of wire. 

As soon as it has boiled 15 or 20 minutes, it is ready 
to press, which I do with a small jack - screw. You 
need a small frame, of course, to press in; this can 
be made with a screw in the upper beam, if desired, 
but the jack-screw does just as well. Now when 
your wax has boiled enough, take the boiler from 
the stove, place it under the press, and turn down 
your screw, and you will soon find the wax on top of 
the water. Proceed to draw it off by the spout. 
You will need a pailful or two of hot water to fill 
up with as the wax runs off. The wax should be all 
removed before the screw is loosened up, as it will 
stick to the racks and burlap. Skim the wax off 
with a paddle made of thin board or tin. If the 
screw is loosened once or twice, and the water al- 
lowed to soften up the pumice, it will get it out 
cleaner. 

Y T ou need not be more than 15 or 20 mimites in 
pressing out a cheese, after it is boiled. A press of 
the size I have described will get out from 10 to 20 
lbs. to a pressing, of as nice wax as you ever saw. 
If you have a good stove to heat on, you need not be 
more than an hour, or V/ 2 hours to a pressing, which 
gives a capacity of from 75 to 159 lbs. per day, more 
than 10 times the capacity of the steamer process; 
and again, it gets the wax out much cleaner. If you 
do not believe this, run some through the steamer, 
and then put it through a press of this kind. We 
had the bottom of a bee hive-full of pumice which 
had been through the steamer, and all the wax had 
been removed that we could get out by that process; 
then we put it through the press and got out 10 lbs. 
more. I tried the steamer for 3 or 4 weeks, and be- 
came disgusted with it, as it worked so slow. I got 
out m3re wax the first day after I made the press 
than I could in 10 days with the steamer. 

Now, if you want to make a press after this pat- 
tern, you are at perfect liberty to do so, as far as I 
am concerned. The boiler and racks will not cost 
over $3.00. Wm. W. Cary. 

Colerain, Mas3., 1878. 

We are much obliged to friend Cary, and 
I have no doubt that his press will bring out 
much more wax than the wax - extractor 
does. The plan we have adopted is some- 
thing similar, but Ave do not use a press. 

OUR OWN AVAY OF RENDERING WAX. 

Get an ordinary wash-boiler that sinks in- 
to the tire - place of the stove. Put some 
strips of wood across, to keep the bags of 
wax from resting on the bottom, and burn- 
ing. These strips are to be of such length 
that their ends rest on the ledge of the bot- 
torn part of the boiler. A frame similar to 
that mentioned by Mr. Cary would be very 
convenient ; we have been using one made 
of wire cloth, but it is hardly stiff enough. 
Now, have some bags made of coarse strain- 



WAX. 



287 



WAX. 



er cloth, such as is known in the dairy re- 
gions as cheese - cloth. These should be 
about the size of grain-bags, but not as long. 
Squeeze your wax into balls in the hands, 
getting it into as small a compass as may be, 
and put it in the bags. Have bags enough 
to contain all the wax. These bags cost 
very little, as the cloth is only 8c. per yard. 
When you have as many packed into your 
boiler as you can get in, while the water is 
boiling, put on a board, with a heavy piece 
of iron on it. When the wax is all pressed 
out of the bags, the iron should be beneath 
the surface of the liquid ; if it is not, add 
more water, or make the weight sink deep- 
er. The wax, of course, is found swimming 
on the surface, and may be dipped off, or, 
if much is to be worked in this way, it will 
pay to have a spout or gate, as suggested by 
friend Cary. It is so difficult to clean the 
bags from the gum and propolis always 
found with old black combs, that I think I 
should throw them away, and use neAv ones 
each time. The more compactly the wax is 
put into the bags, the less number of bags 
will be needed. 

Where one has cappings from the extract- 
or, they should not be put Avith old dark 
combs, but worked by themselves, for they 
are almost pure wax. I have seen cappings 
from new white combs produce wax so near- 
ly white that it would readily sell for 
bleached wax.* 

The wax of commerce, when it is bought 
in quantities, is composed of cakes of 
all sizes and of all colors, from nearly 
white to nearly black, the intermediate 
shades comprising almost all the colors 
of the rainbow. Where it contains much 
refuse, it can be improved by putting it 
through either of the presses described 
above, and, in fact, almost any wax can be 
made cleaner and brighter by being put 
through the extractor two or three times. 
It has been our practice, in using it for fdn., 
to select the cleanest and nicest cakes for 
the thin fdn., to be used in the honey-boxes, 
and the darker for the brood fdn., for the 
latter, I think, is less liable to sag and 
stretch than the very light yellow. Wax, as 
it comes from the hives, varies greatly in 



* June, 1881.— We have just adopted a plan for ren- 
dering old combs by the use of steam, that is vastly 
ahead of all these given, both in quality of wax and 
rapidity of work. It is simply a large honey-barrel 
having a basket made of the perforated zinc sus- 
pended in it by a hoop that rests on the top of the 
barrel. A steam-pipe throws a strong jet of steam 
into this basket, and all one has to do is to shovel in 
the old comb in any quantity. The wax is found in 
*he water below, and the refuse matter remains in 
the basket. The idea was partlyfurnished me by my 
friend D. A. Jones, of Beeton, Canada. 



hardness. Some specimens are so soft that 
it seems as if they could not stand the 
weight of the bees at all, when made into 
sheets of fdn., while others are so hard that 
it is difficult to roll them at ordinary temper- 
atures. If I am correct, the soft wax can 
often be worked into comb better than the 
hard. This is because it does not continue 
to soften, in the same proportion, as the 
temperature is raised. As an illustration, 
take paraffine. It is too hard to be worked 
ordinarily ; but if warmed to the right de- 
gree, it makes beautiful - looking fdn. If 
given to the bees during moderate spring 
weather, it is worked out into beautiful 
comb, and filled with honey ; but when the 
extreme heat of midsummer comes, these 
beautiful-looking combs, with their precious 
load of sweets, will soften and fall down in- 
to a heap. This fact I learned by expe- 
rience that cost me a hundred dollars or 
more. The admixture of the least particle 
of paraffine is sure to give the wax a tenden- 
cy to stretch and sag, and, on this account, 
I would not advise it; for it is a serious 
matter to send out fdn. that may endanger 
the life of a colony, by breaking down when 
heavily filled with honey. I have been told 
that, Avith wires stretched at frequent inter- 
vals, say eA*ery inch through the frame, it 
can be used without danger ; and, as the 
bees Avork it out into combs faster than I 
ever saw them Avork natural wax, it may be 
practicable to use it in that way, after all, 
when mixed with a sufficient quantity of 
wax to make a sure thing of the side- walls. 
After a comb has been once used for brood, 
the cocoons left give it sufficient strength 
and firmness to be ever afterward safe. 

CLEANING AVAX FROM UTENSILS. 

Perhaps the readiest means is to immerse 
them in boiling Avater until all the wax is 
thoroughly melted off, then drain, Avhile 
kept hot, until the wax which adheres to 
them when being lifted from the water is 
thoroughly melted, and can be wiped off 
Avith soft newspaper. Where the article 
can not be easily immersed, benzine or a so- 
lution of sal-soda Avill readily dissolve the 
wax, so it may be cleaned off with a cloth. 
Benzine dissolves wax almost as readily as 
Avater dissoh-es sugar. 

Caution in handling wax. — I have spoken 
about order, care, and cleanliness, in hand- 
ling honey, candy, etc.; noAv, my friends, it 
is a much more serious thing to daub melted 
wax about the house, on the carpets and on 
your clothes, than it is to daub either honey 
or candy. You can very easily spoil a dol- 



WAX. 



WAX. 



lar's worth of clothing while fussing with 
10c. worth of wax, as I know by experience. 
When you commence, bear this in mind, 
and resolve that you are going to have 
things clean and neat at every step, no mat- 
ter what the cost. Newspapers are very 
cheap, and it takes but a minute to spread 
them all around the room where your wax 
may be dropped. Have every thing, at 
every stage, in such order that you would 
not be ashamed of your work, should vis- 
itors call unexpectedly. The greatest trials 
I have ever had with boys and girls, in try- 
ing to teach them neatness and order, has 
been with those in the wax-room ; they will 
drop little bits of wax, and step on them. 
My friend, if you can not learn to avoid step- 
ping on bees, or dropping and stepping on 
wax and honey while you are at work, you 
would better stop right here, and give up try- 
ing to be a bee-keeper. I do not know but 
you might also give up all thoughts of ever 
trying to be happy anywhere. You certainly 
can not be wanted in this world, and I am 
not sure you will be wanted in heaven, if 
you go about carelessly treading on things, 
and sticking and daubing honey and bees- 
wax everywhere you go. 

The article below, from the American Bee 
Journal of Oct., 18R7, covers so many impor- 
tant facts in regard to wax, that I copy it 
entire : 

WAX. 

This is an organic product of b( th animal and 
vegetable origin, and occurring even as a mineral, 
though in this case, also, its original source is un- 
doubtedly vegetable. The common properties of 
the substances included under this name are fusi- 
bility at a moderate heat; burning with muchtlame; 
insolubility in water and alcohol; solubility in alka- 
line solutions and ether; and in most cases a pecul- 
iar luster, to which the name of " waxy " has been 
ffiven. The most important of these substances is 
beeswax, which was for a long time supposed to be 
simply collected by the bees from flowers, 1 ut has 
proved by the experiments of Huber and the Hunt- 
ers, to be secreted by them. It is obtained in the 
cakes in which it appears in commerce, by boiling 
the comb, from which the honey has been drained or 
pressed out, in water, with frequent stirring, that 
the wax may not burn. When completely melted, 
the wax is strained by pressing through hair bags, 
and received in a vessel of cold water, which serves 
to cool it and prevent it from sticking. This is re- 
peated two or three times, the bags increasing in 
fineness, and the wax is finally melted without wa- 
ter, and poured into molds wider at the top than 
at the bottom, and wetted to prevent sticking. 
After being filled, the molds arc kept in a warm 
room till the wax has solidified, as otherwise the 
cakes are apt to crack in the middle. This process 
is, however, tedious and somewhat wasteful, and 
various attempts have been made to find a more ex- 
peditious one, of which Mr. Bagster's appears the 
most simple. The combs are placed in a conical 



earthen vessel filled with a mixture of one ounce of 
nitric acid to a quart of water. This is set over an 
open fire till the wax is completely melted, when it 
is removed from the fire, and allowed to cool gradu- 
ally. The product becomes divided into three lay- 
ers, the upper one pure wax, the lowest chiefly im- 
purities, and the middle containing sufficient wax 
to be worth adding to the next melting. A market- 
able wax is thus obtained at a single operation, 
without straining or pressing. Beeswax obtained 
by either of these processes is yellow; has an agree- 
able, somewhat aromatic odor, and a slight, but pe- 
culiar taste; is rather soft and unctious, though 
firm; has a granular fracture, but when cut shows 
the characteristic waxy luster; does not adhere to 
the fingers, or to the teeth when chewed; is render- 
ed soft and tenacious by a moderate heat ; melts at 
about 142 5 F.; and has a specific gravity of 0.960 to 
0.965. 

Wax is often adulterated with earth, meal, rosin, 
etc. The two first render it brittle and grayish, and 
may be detected and separated by melting the wax, 
when the impurities may be strained out. Rosin 
makes the fracture smooth and shining instead of 
granular, and may be dissolved in cold alcohol, 
while the wax remains untouched. Tallow or suet 
renders the wax softer, and gives it an unpleasant 
odor when melted. 

Wax is bleached by causing it, when melted, to 
pass through a perforated trough upon the surface 
of revolving wooden cylinders half immersed in wa- 
ter, by which it is formed into films, which are 
then placed on webs of canvas raised from the 
ground, and exposed to the action of the weather 
until perfectly white. It is, however, generally nec- 
essary to repeat the process so as to expose fresh 
surfaces before the wax can be completely bleach- 
ed; and care must be taken to finally remove the 
wax from the webs of canvas only in dry weather, 
as if it is done in damp weather, it retains a grayish 
tint, which much impairs its value. The films are 
finally melted and cast into thin circular cakes, 
known commercially as " virgin wax." When 
bleached by means of chlorine or its compounds, 
the color is destroyed, but the wax is rendered unfit 
for many purposes, and efpecially for candles. 
Another method of bleaching is to add one pound of 
melted wax, two ounces pulverized nitrate of soda, 
and stir in by degrees a mixture of one ounce sul- 
phuric acid and nine ounces of water. When all the 
acid is added, it is allowed to partially cool, and the 
vessel is then filled up w T ith boiling water, to remove 
the sulphate of soda and acid; it is then quite white, 
translucent in thin slices, shining, harder and less 
unctious than the yellow, without taste or smell; 
becomes soft enough to bo kneaded at 85° to 95° F., 
and fuses at 150° to 155° F., though it will remain 
liquid at a somewhat lower temperature; by great 
heat it is partially volatilized and partly decompos- 
ed, the vapor burning with a ( lear bright flame; it 
is insoluble in water, but slightly soluble in boiling 
alcohol and ether, which deposit most of it on cool- 
ing; easily so in the essential and fixed oils; and 
can readily be combined with rosin by fusion. It is 
very frequently adulterated with spermaceti, which 
destroys its peculiar luster, and renders it softer 
and more fusible; it is also adulterated with stea^ 
rine, which may be detected by the odor of fat or 
tallow evolved when the wax is highly hoated, and 
by the crumbly texture which it imparts. 

White wax is composed of two principal sub- 
stanpps; myripipe, wblph is grayish-white without 



WAX. 



WAX. 



crystalline texture, fusible at 127° F., and almost in- 
soluble in boiling alcohol ; and cerine or cerotic acid, 
which crystallizes when pure, in delicate needle-like 
crystals, fuses at 172° F., is much more soluble, con- 
stitutes about twenty-two per cent of the entire 
weight of the wax, and has for its formula C 51, H 
51, O 1. Wax also contains four or five per cent of a 
substance called ceroleine, which is soft, very solu- 
ble in cold alcohol and ether, and melts at 83° P.; 
and by dry distillation, and by the action of acids 
and alkalies on cerene and myricine, a large num- 
ber of peculiar organic compounds may be derived 
from it. A specimen of beeswax from Ceylon was 
found by Mr. Brodie to consist almost exclusively of 
myricine. 

Beeswax, though produced in almost every coun- 
try in the temperate and tropic zones, is an article 
of foreign commerce in comparatively few. The 
European supply is principally derived from the 
Baltic, the Levant, Africa, India, and the United 
States. The Portuguese province of Angola, in Af- 
rica, annually sends to Europe about 1,500,000 arro- 
bas, or 47,772,000 fts. Japan also exports much. In 
the United States it has long been an important 
article of production and export. The census of 
1840 gives the value of the product at $628,303, which 
would be about 2,000,000 tt>s. ; that for 1850 states the 
value of wax and honey to have been 14,853,790 lbs., 
worth $2,736,606; and that for 1860 gives 1,357,864 lbs. 
of wax alone. The exports in 1859-60 were 362,474 
lbs., worth $131,803. In 1861, 238,553 lbs. were export- 
ed from New York. In 1860 more than five-sixths of 
the exports were to France, England, and Brazil. 

Besides beeswax, two kinds of wax of animal ori- 
gin enter into commerce. The first, the insect wax 
of China, is found coating the surface of the Rhus 
succedaneum and some other trees. It is the product 
of a very small white hemipterous insect ( Coccus 
Sinensis), which about the beginning of June climbs 
up the plant and feeds upon it, depositing the wax 
upon the branches as a coating which resembles 
hoar frost. This is scraped off toward the end of 
August, melted in boiling water, and strained 
through a cloth. It is white and crystalline, re- 
sembling spermaceti, but harder, more brittle, and 
more fibrous, fuses at 181° F., is but slightly soluble 
in alcohol or ether, dissolves readily in naphtha, and 
has for its formula C 108, H 108, O 4. It does not con- 
tain cerotic acid ready formed, but by fusion with 
potash is decomposed into a mixture of it with a 
substance called cerotine (C 54, H 56, O 2.) The Chi- 
nese call it fe-la, and employ it for making candles, 
sometimes alone, but more commonly mixed with 
softer fats, and as a coating for other more easily 
fusible material, in order to prevent guttering. It 
is often colored red with alkanet root, or green with 
verdigris. It has been introduced into England for 
the manufacture of composite candles, and is found 
to answer the same purpose of beeswax, of destroy- 
ing the crystalline structure, or " breaking the 
grain" of stearic acid. In China it is also employed 
as a medicine. The French have introduced the in- 
sect into Algeria. The price of wax at Ningpo some 
years ago was 22 to 25 cents per pound, and the an- 
nual production was estimated at 400,000 lbs. Anoth- 
er wax of animal origin is the Andaquiss wax of 
South America, which is produced by a small insect 
called avesa. It melts at 171° F., has a specific grav- 
ity of 0.917, and, according to M. Lewy, contains fifty 
per cent of ceroxyline, or palm wax, forty-five per 
cent of ceroxine, or sugar-cane wax, and five per 
cent of an oily substance. 



Of the vegetable waxes, the Japanese, the palm 
wax of New Granada, and the myrtle wax of the 
United States are the principal varieties. The first 
is as white as bleached beeswax, more brittle, less 
ductile, and breaks with a smoother and more con- 
choidal fracture; its specific gravity is rather less; 
and its melting-point is about 127° F. Its chemical 
composition is not definitely known. The berries 
yielding it grow in clusters, like grapes, on trees 
from 15 to twenty-five feet high, and when gathered 
are roughly washed and boiled in water, when the 
wax rises to the surface, is skimmed off, and formed 
into cakes weighing about thirty pounds. It is said 
to require protracted bleaching before it is fit for 
market. Small quantities have been shipped to Eu- 
rope for many years past, but it is only within four 
or five years that it has been exclusively employed 
for candles, etc. The amount exported is large and 
continually increasing. In 1859 a single cargo of 
1,170,000 lbs. arrived in England. In 1860 the price at 
Nagasaki was $11 to $12 per pecul, or 8y 2 to 9J4 cents 
per pound. The palm wax of New Granada (cerox- 
yline) is obtained from the Ceroxylon andicola. The 
scrapings from the exterior of the tree are boiled 
by the Indians, and the wax rises to the surface. It 
is grayish white when crude, and after purification 
by digestion in alcohol is yellowish white, almost in- 
soluble in alcohol, and fuses at 161 l / 2 ° F. The tree 
has been introduced into Algeria. Carnauba wax is 
derived from a palm growing in northern Brazil. 
It is soluble in alcohol and ether, and fuses at 182° F. 
The ocuba wax of Brazil is derived from kernels of 
the fruit of several species of myristica, especially 
the M. ocuba. It is yellowish white, soluble in boil- 
ing alcohol, and melts at 98° F. The Bicuhiba wax, 
also from Brazil, comes from the M. Bicuhiba, is 
yellowish-white, soluble in boiling alcohol, and fusi- 
ble at 95° F. The myrtle wax, which for many years 
has been an article of commerce in the United 
States, also known as " candleberry wax " and as 
" bayberry tallow," occurs as an incrustation on the 
berries Of the wax-myrtle or bayberry. The berries 
are inclosed in bags of coarse cloth, and kept im- 
mersed in boiling water until the wax collects on 
the surface, which is then cast into molds, and sold 
without further preparation. It varies in color 
from grayish-yellow to deep green, has a balsamic 
and slightly aromatic odor, a specific gravity of 1.004 
to 1.006, fuses between 117° and 120° F., and is much 
harder and more brittle than beeswax. It is com- 
posed, according to Mr. G. E. Moore, of one-fifth 
part of a substance called palmatine, which exists 
in palm oil, Japanese wax, etc., and four-fifths of 
palmitic acid, with a small quantity of lauric acid. 
This wax appears, as a candle-making material, to 
be worthy of more attention than it has hitherto re- 
ceived. Its illuminating power is scarcely inferior 
to that of the best beeswax; it costs hardly one- 
quarter as much, can be obtained more free from 
color, is easily bleached, and from its superior hard- 
ness can be cast instead of being molded by hand 
like beeswax. The plant grows abundantly on the 
poorest soils along the coast of New England. 
Plantations of it have long existed in Europe, and 
its cultivation has lately been tried in Algeria. The 
berries of myriad quercifolia, natives of the Cape of 
Good Hope, growing on dry sandy plains along the 
coast, also yield a greenish wax, which can be 
bleached, and when made into candles gives a very 
good light. The sugar-cane yields a wax called cer- 
osine, which is soluble in boiling alcohol, and slight- 
ly so in boiling ether. The sorgum also secretes on 



WAX. 



290 



WHITEWOOD. 



the surfaoe of the native stalks a white resinous 
powder, from which candles could be made. A 
waxy sub«tance called suberine has likewise been 
obtained from cork. 

Several mineral substances resemble wax in phys- 
ical properties, the principal of which are ozocerite 
and hatchettine. The principal use of the different 
kinds of wax are: 1. For the manufacture of candles, 
either from pure wax, the consumption of which is 
especially great in Roman-Catholic countries, or of 
wax mixed with stearic acid, palm oil, etc., as in 
composite candles; to which purpose every variety, 
whether animal, vegetable, or mineral, seems to 
have been employed in different countries; 2. As a 
vehicle for colors in certain kinds of painting, and 
as a protecting coat for them; 3. For giving a 
polish to furniture and floors, for both which pur- 
poses it is generally used in France and other parts 
of southern Europe; 4. In medicine, in which bees- 
wax is employed as an internal remedy against 
diarrhoea and dysentery, as an ingredient in almost 
all ointments, cerates, and plasters, and also for fill- 
ing carious teeth; 5. As a lute or cement of much 
utility for chemical and other purposes, and also as 
an impervious coating for vessels foi-med of porous 
materials; 6. As a material for modeling; and 7, 
formerly for seals instead of sealing-wax. 

The process given above, of bleaching by 
the use of chemicals, I have tried repeated- 
ly ; but although I procured the purest arti- 
cles, and used the utmost care, I have never 
been able to get wax enough whiter to make 
it any object, to say nothing of making 
white wax of it. The sun bleaching is the 
plan generally used, if I am not mistaken ; 
but as I have said before, we certainly do 
not want white wax for use in the apiary. 
The plan of cleansing wax by the use of 
acids or vinegar is well known, I believe; 
but, as a general rule, I think it is more 
trouble than the plans I have given. Our 
friend Doolittle sent us some remarkably 
pretty wax, that he said was cleansed by the 
following process, which is taken from Quin- 
by's Bee-Keeping, edition of 1866, page 283: 

By adding an acid to the water in which the wax 
is melted, it may be separated much more readily. 
A quart of vinegar to a gallon of water, or a small 
spoonful of nitric acid is sufficient. 

ADULTERATION OF WAX. 

The white wax of commerce, I am sorry 
to say, is generally largely adulterated with 
paraffine, which very much injures it for 
making fdn., as I have before explained. 
Within the past two years, another sub- 
stance, called ceresin, has been imported in 
large quantities, and bids fair to take the 
place of wax to a great extent for many pur- 
poses. It, however, like parafrine, when 
used for combs, stretches so much as to 
make it worse than useless. Both of these 
substances can readily be mixed with wax, 
and the problem is to determine when there 
is such admixture. My method has been 



simply to chew a piece of the suspected wax ; 
if adulterated, even slightly, with either, the 
wax will chew like gum ; whereas, if pure it 
will soon crumble and break to pieces in the 
mouth, and will not make gum at all. In 
buying the ordinary cakes of wax of com- 
merce, we are pretty safe from adulteration 
with either of these, or at least we have been 
up to this time (June, 1879), but I am daily 
expecting to find counterfeit cakes of dirty 
wax, all sizes and colors. I am sorry to say, 
that there is a species of fraud practiced by 
the country people themselves, by adding 
i tallow to their cakes of beeswax, but, hap- 
j pily, this is not very common. The pres- 
I ence of tallow is detected by both taste and 
smell, and especially by chewing, for a 
very small per cent of tallow softens the wax 
quite perceptibly, and makes it like grafting- 
wax. Where we suspect a cake of wax, I 
have sometimes made a little of it into a 
piece of fdn., and hung it in a hive. If the 
cells made are regular, and do not stretch 
out so as to give the oblong appearance, I 
pronounce it pure wax ; for, so far as I 
know, there is no other substance known 
that will stand the heat of the hive, as will 
wax, without bulging and stretching. 

WHITEWOOD ( Liriodendron Tulip- 
if era). This is often called the tulip-tree, I 
suppose from its tulip-shaped flowers. 



After I had written the above, I concluded 
I did not know very much about the white- 
wood, especially the blossoms; and as I had 
directed our engraver to copy engravings of 
! the Rocky - Mountain Bee - plant, the 
Mountain Sage, and Teasel, from Cook's 
Manual. I concluded I would get my obser- 
vations and pictures this time from nature ; 
and so I deserted my type-writer, and travel- 
ed off into the woods. At length I found a 
j tree, but there were only buds to be seen, 
j not blossoms. It must be too early in the 
season ; but, hark ! whence come those 
sounds of humming - birds and humming 
beesV Whence, too, comes that rare and ex- 
quisite perfume? I looked higher, and, away 
in the misty top of the tree I thought I dis- 
cerned, by the light of the setting sun, mul- 
titudes of bees flitting about. Oh that I were 
| just up there ! I looked at the rough trunk 
of the tree, and meditated that I was a boy 
! no longer, but a man of 40, or would be in a 
j few months more. I might get up to that 
first limb : after a good deal of kicking and 
' puffing, I got up there. The next was a 
j harder pull yet; but soon the limbs were 
I thicker, and finally I began to crawl up- 



WHITEWOOD. 



291 



WHITEWOOD. 



ward with about as much ease as our year- 
and-a-half-old baby goes up stairs, whenever 
she can elude maternal vigilance. Up, up, 
I went, until, on looking down, I really be- 
gan to wonder what that blue-eyed baby and 
her mamma would do, should my clumsy 
boots slip, or a dead limb break unexpected- 
ly. Now I was in the very summit of the 
tree, and, oh what a wonderful beauty I saw 
in those tulip - shaped blossoms that peeped 
from the glossy-green foliage all about me ! 
No wonder there was a humming. Bumble- 
bees, gaudy-colored wasps, yellow Italians, 
and last, but not least, beautifully plumaged 
humming-birds, were all rejoicing in a field 



Our friends in the South have a great deal 
to say about what they call " poplar honey," 
and, if I am correct, the poplar is the same 
tree which we call whitewood. It blossoms 
with them in April and May. I know what 
time it blossoms here, for I thought about 
its being the 27th of May, when sliding 
down out of that tree. A few days ago I 
received some bees from G. W. Gates, of 
Bartlett, Tenn. The combs were filled and 
bulged out with a dark honey, such as I 
have described, and the bees had built fins 
of snow-white comb on"] the cover of their 
shipping-box. From this I infer the honey 
must be yielded in great abundance in those 




LEAF, BUD, AND BLOSSOM OF THE WHITEWOOD, Oil TULIP-TREE. 



of sweets. Every now and theu one of the 
latter paused before my very face, and, as 
he swung pendulously in mid air, winked 
his bright little eyes, as much as to say, 
"Why, what on earth can you be doing away 
up here in our domain?" 

I picked off the great orange-colored, mot- 
tled blossoms, and looked for the honey. 1 
presume it was the wrong time of day to ex- 
pect much; but the inside of those large pet- 
als seemed to be distilling a dark kind of 
dew that the birds and insects were licking 
off. It tasted to me more like molasses than 
honey. On the next page our engraver has 
tried to show you what I saw in the tree-top. 

As the sun had gone down, I commenced 
in rather an undignified way to follow suit, 
and after resting a little, limped home. 
Although I was stiff and sore, I carried an 
armful of whitewood blossoms to surprise 
the good folks who, probably, had never 
dreamed of the beauties to be seen only in 
the tree-tops. 



localities. I have seen it stated, that the 
large flowers sometimes yield a spoonful of 
honey each. As the tree is often used for 
ornament, I make the following extract from 

Fuller's Forest-Tree Culturist: 

LIRIODENDRON TULIPIFERA (TuKp-trce Wlltt&WOO&J. 

Leaves smooth, on slender petioles, partially 
tbree-lobed, the middle one appearing as though 
cut off ; flowers about two inches broad, bell-shaped, 
greenish yellow, marked with orange; seeds winged, 
in a large cone-shape cluster, which falls apart in 
autumn. The figure shows a single seed 
as it appears when separated from the 
mass. It blooms in May and June, and 
the seeds ripen in late summer or early 
autumn, and should be sown as soon as 
ripe in good, moderately dry soil. They 
may remain in the seed - bed two years, 
if desirable, but should receive a slight 
protection the first winter; tree of large 
size, sometimes 130 feet high, with a very 
straight stem ; wood light color, greenish 
white, soft and light, not hard enough to 
receive a polish. It is much used in cabinet work, 
and for making panels for carriages, and for any 
inside work where toughness or a hard surface is 



WINTERING. 



292 



WINTERING. 



not required. There is perhaps no native wood that 
will shrink more in seasoning than whitewood, for 
it not only shrinks sidewise, but endwise as well; 
but when once thoroughly seasoned, it remains 
fixed, and does not warp or Iwist like many of the 
hard and tough kinds of wood. There is also much 
difference in character of the wood coming from 
different sections of the country, and mechanics 
who are conversant with the various kinds and lo- 
calities will readily tell whether specimens came 
from the West or East. The latter is of a light 
greenish color, grain not so smooth and soft, and 
sometimes rather tough. To produce good timber, 
the soil should be deep and rich, and on such the 
trees will grow very rapidly. The wood is little 
used, except for the purposes mentioned above, 
consequently it is only large trees that will be of 
much value. It is one of the most beautiful 
ornamental trees we possess, growing in a conical 
form, and producing an abundance of its beautiful 
tulip-shaped flowers in spring. The roots are soft 
and sponge-like, and it requires great care in re- 
moving to insure success. Frequent transplanting 
in the nursery is the best method for preparing the 
trees for future removal. 

The question is often asked, "Is white- 
wood good for bee-hives?" It may do for 
sections and honey-boxes, but it is very un- 
satisfactory for hives, for the reasons given 
in this extract. 

WINTERING. My friends, if you 
have been over faithfully what I have writ- 
ten in the preceding pages, you are nearly 
ready to sum up the matter of wintering 
with me, with but few additional remarks. 
Under the head of Absconding Swarms, in 
the opening of the book, I cautioned you 
against dividing, and trying to winter weak 
colonies. See Absconding in Early Spring, 
under the head mentioned. Also see Hmise- 
Apiary, under head of Apiary. In regard 
to keeping bees warm through the winter 
with Artificial, Heat, see that head. In 
regard to the effect of different kinds of food 
or stores on the welfare of bees during win- 
ter, see Dysentery, Feeding and Feed- 
ers, Candy for Bees, and Honey-dew. 
In regard to fixing the size of the entrances 
to hives, and keeping them from getting 
clogged with dead bees, see Entrances to 
Hives, Ventilation, and Propolis. In 
regard to starving bees, and taking away 
their sealed stores, allowing them only un- 
sealed, late fall honey, see Extractors. 
For a consideration of the different sizes and 
shapes of frames for wintering, see Nu- 
cleus. 

After you have gone over all these, I think 
we are ready to consider wintering intelli- 
gently. 

WLTEN TO COMMENCE PREPARING THE BEES 
FOR WINTER. 

If either bees or stores are lacking, they 



should be supplied during warm weather, so 
that all may be quiet and ready for the win- 
ter doze which nature intends them to take, 
long enough before winter weather has act- 
ually set in. In this latitude I should ad- 
vise examining all hives the first of Sept. 

In the first place, be sure that you have 
bees enough in each hive to winter ; if you 
have not, unite until every colony is strong. 
I would not undertake to winter any colony, 
unless it would cover well as many as 4 L. 
frames. If your colony has not as many as 
4 good combs, they must be supplied with 
fdn., and made to build them out. If they 
are to do it in Sept., you and the bees 
both must stir yourselves, I tell you. There 
must be no forgetting them, and you must 
be at home every day, to attend to it. Close 
the space up by chaff division-boards, until 
there is just comfortable room for the 4 
frames, put in your fdn. where the combs 
are lacking, and then feed them every night, 
from half a pint to a pint of food. Open the 
hive every day or two, and see how things 
get along. You want a good queen and lots 
of brood started. Make them prosper, and 
build up. You will soon learn to know 
what prosperity means. They should be 
rearing brood, building comb, and getting 
full of bees, precisely as they do in June. 
For winter stores, I would use granulated su- 
gar (see Feeders and Feeding ; feed them 
about half a pound every night, until their 
combs are full. 94 If you have the 4 combs 
average about 5 tbs. each, you will be on the 
safe side. If your colony is heavy enough to 
cover G combs, clear out to the ends, during 
a cool night, they will perhaps need G combs 
filled so as to average 5 lbs. each. When 
you get the bees and the stores, with the 
chaff cushions on each side, 'they are all 
ready to winter, by simply putting a thick 
chaff cushion over them. This arrangement 
is not as good as a regular chaff hive, but it 
has answered for several seasons past, quite 
well. If the winter is very severe, a colony 
that would cover densely 5 or 6 combs would 
be much safer than a smaller one. The 
main points are, a brood - apartment closely 
packed with bees, and plenty of good sealed 
stores. With these two conditions alone, 
the bees will generally winter all right, even 
in a hive made of inch boards. If the bees 
are not enough to fill the hive, reduce the 
size of the apartment until they do fill it. 
This is usually done by a division-board. If 
the walls of this wintering apartment are 
made of thin wood, the bees will then keep 
the thin walls of the hive, as well as them- 



WINTERING. 



293 



WINTERING. 



selves, warm all winter, and we shall then 
avoid the loss that often ensues by bees con- 
tinually freezing in the outside combs. 
This is the purpose of the chaff hive ; it is 
of about as much use to put chaff and straw 
over the outside of great heavy hives, as it 
would be to put your bed clothes on the roof 
of your house, instead of next to your body, 
on a cold winter night. 



VENTILATION, AND ITS RELATION TO FROST 
AND DAMPNESS. 

I think the subjects of chafTpacking and 
ventilation are not clearly understood. Bees 
become damp because the walls of the hive 
are so cold as to condense the moisture from 
their breath. If these walls did not become 
cold, no moisture would condense on them, 
and no dampness would accumulate in the 
hives. On a cold winter night, frost some- 
times accumulates on our windows until it 
may be I inch in thickness. The amount 
of ice depends on the difference in the tem- 
peratures of the air on the two sides of the 
glass. If the air outside should be below 
zero, while that inside is 70 or 80, and at the 
same time is fully charged with moisture 
from the kitchen, perhaps, as is the case fre- 
quently on washing-days, or even from the 
breath of many persons, the accumulation 
of ice on the glass will be very rapid. If the 
room is kept warmed up, the ice will melt, 
and the water will run down until the floor 
becomes quite wet. While running a small 
engine one winter, in a room having large 
glass windows, the water accumulated so 
rapidly on the glass that we had to attach a 
tin trough to the window-sill to catch it, and 
in a little time we caught a pailful from the 
end of the spout. The cause is this : Warm 
air takes up and holds in solution a large 
quantity of water. This water is, of course, 
invisible, and we have scarcely any means 
of detecting it so long as the temperature of 
the air is unchanged by coming in contact 
with colder substances, or currents of air of 
a lower temperature. If the walls of the 
room are kept warm, there will be no per- 
ceptible dampness. Let them be chilled, as 
in the case of the window-pane, however, 
and we shall have the warm air dropping its 
water the very minute it comes in contact 
with the cold surface, in exactly the same 
way that dew is deposited on a hot summer 
day, on the outside of a pitcher containing 
cold water. The process with the window 
goes on, because currents of air are started 
both on the outside and inside of the glass, 
by the heat that passes through the glass. 



To make this plain, let A, in the cut below 
represent the pane of glass. A 

The arrows represent the course fc 
of the currents of air. The great- \ 
er the difference in temperature * 
between the outside and inside, 
the more active are these currents, 
and the greater is the deposition 
of dew or ice on the surface of the f 
glass on the inside. i 

HOW BEE-niVES BECOME DAMP. 

In the warm room you will see that the 
air is chilled as it strikes the window, and 
then falls because it is heavier ; this gives 
place to more warm air, and keeps up the 
circulation. On the outside, the cold air 
next the window becomes warmed, and ris- 
es on account of being lighter, and this 
keeps up a similar action on the outside, the 
direction of the currents being reversed. 
Thus you see how the water from the air is 
condensed on the windows, and goes down 
into the pail. The air in the room would 
soon lose its moisture, were not more sup- 
plied from the breathing of living persons, 
or from the kettles on the stove, from damp 
air rising from the cellar, or from something 
of that kind. I need hardly state that the 
same operation goes on in the bee-hive, es- 
pecially if the walls are thin, and the hive 
at all tight. If the top of the hive is a thin 
honey-board, with cold air above and warm 
air below, ice will be sure to collect over the 
cluster, and when it melts will dampen the 
bees. The sides of the hive will be covered 
with frost, and perhaps a heavy coat of ice, 
by the circulation of currents of air as I have 
explained. Now let us go back to the win- 
dow, and place one of the chaff cushions I 
have advised for wintering, close against the 
window-glass, on the outside. This will 
stop the outside circulation, and the light of 
glass will soon become warmed through to 
such an extent that no ice, or dew either, 
will condense upon it. To make a further 
protection, suppose we put glass or boards 
on the outside of the cushion, or, in fact, 
make two walls, with chaff between them as 
in the chaff hive. A good colony of bees 
would warm up the thin walls next to them, 
sufficiently to prevent either frost or mois- 
ture from accumulating on them at all. 
Now, if the walls all around the bees are 
thus protected with chaff cushions, they can 
not well get frosty on the outside, and thus 
accumulate either moisture or dampness on 
the inside. As a proof of this I have win- 
tered a colonv nicely, with a covering of en- 

19 



WINTERING 



29* 



WINTERING. 



ameled cloth over them, that was almost ab- 
solutely impervious to air. To be sure, a 
thick chaff cushion was over this enameled 
cloth, or it would have been wet very quick- 
ly with the condensed moisture; in fact, sev- 
eral colonies became quite wet during fros- 
ty nights in the fall, before the chaff cush- 
ions were put on. Now, if the bees are to 
keep these walls about them so warm that 
moisture cannot condense on them, the walls 
must be close to the cluster of bees, and cer- 
tainly the material for them should be a 
non-conducter of heat, and they should be 
so thin that they will readily warm through. 
Although it may not be absolutely necessary 
that the walls and covering should be of 
some porous material, which will absorb any 
chance moisture from the breath of the bees, 
it will perhaps be better that they should be 
so, and many experiments seem to indicate 
that straw or chaff is the best material for 
this purpose. For the reasons I have named, 
the old-fashioned straw hive, Avhich has for 
ages been emblematical of the honey-bee, 
seems to be very nearly what is wanted to 
protect them in the way they seem to de- 
mand. The straw next to them is warm, and 
therefore proof againt condensation; it is 
thin, and hence easily warmed; is a non- 
conductor of heat; and while it may permit 
the air to pass through the porous walls 
slowly, ft does not admit of a draft of cold air 
through the hive, as does a badly made wood- 
en hive, or one that has cracks or fissures. 

STRAW HIVES. 

Ever since the advantages of straw hives 
for wintering have been fully demonstrated, 
attempts have been made to make hives of 
straw, to hold the movable frames in com- 
mon use. Such hives have answered the 
purpose very well, but they are inconvenient, 
untidy, expensive to make, and not durable 
after they are made. As they can not well 
be painted, they are soon destroyed by the 
weather; and if we make an outer shell to 
protect the straw, we have, virtually, a chaff 
hive, such as I have described. It is true, 
we might have straw next to the bees ; but 
straw does not present a clean, smooth sur- 
face such as we wish to have next to combs 
to have them built true,and I can not discov- 
er, by experiment, that the straw is any the 
less effective with a thin board interposed 
between it and the bees. 

HOW TO COVER THE BEES IN WINTER. 

Straw mats to put over the bees have been 
in usdtmany years, and with good results ; but 
I have found it a difficult matter to have them 



fit so closely over the cluster as do the chaff 
cushions, and they are not so neat and tidy. 
The mats will always have more or less loose 
straws pulling off. For the reasons I have 
given, I do not think a hive with the straw 
exposed either to the bees inside, or to the 
weather outside, will evereome in vogue ex- 
tensively. After having tried many differ- 
ent plans of covering the frames for winter, 
I have adopted a single sheet of burlap, or 
coarse bag stuff ; but this covering is in- 
tended only to keep the bees down, and 
to keep them from soiling and biting the 
cushions, and not to furnish protection from 
the weather, unless it should be during the 
warmest summer weather. Under this, and 
right over the cluster, we have the Hill de- 
vice, shown below, which is the same men- 
tioned by Mr. Langstroth on page 287. 




HILL S DEVICE FOR COVERING THE FRAMES 
IN WINTER. 

The sticks are sawed on a circle, from 
half-inch basswood. They are sawed on a 
curve that would make a circle of about 11 
inches in diameter. The stuff is held at an 
angle when sawed, so the outer surface is 
something like the surface of a sphere. The 
two inside sticks are 9 inches in length ; the 
two outside ones, only 8. The back-bone, as 
it were, is a strip of very light hoop iron, like 
that used to hoop pails. It is about a foot 
long, which holds the ribs about four inches 
apart. Two wire nails are put through and 
clinched, at each stick. You set this on the 
frames, right over where the bees are clus- 
tered, then lay over the piece of bagging, 
or burlap, and fill the upper story with chaff. 
Up under these the bees cluster; and with 
sealed honey in the combs below, and chaff 
above them, they can hardly be in a better 
fix for winter. If they should need feeding 
in winter, which never ought to be the case, 
put balls of granulated sugar and honey, 
stirred up together, right in this cluster. 
This device I think better than sticks laid 
across the tops of the frames, or any thing 
of that kind, because it does not leave inter- 
stices clear to the outside of the hive, and 
because it accommodates the bees in a sort 
of sphere-shaped ball, which extends down 
between these combs of stores. 



WINTERING. 



295 



WINTERING. 




CHAFF CUSHIONS. 

Take two pieces of burlap, mentioned 
above, 10 inches wide, and the other way 
clear across the roll. As the burlap is 40 in. 
wide, our two pieces will be each 20 x 40. 
Well, these two make the cushion by sewing 
them together in such a way as to make one 
single endless seam, and I think that a look 
at the cut above will tell you how it is done, 
without any further explanation. 

In sewing it, leave the last corner open 
until the chaff is put in. It is not to be 
packed in tight, but just loosely; and, in 
fact, we prefer them with the quilt not quite 
full. Recent experiments seem to indicate 
that 6 inches of chaff over the cluster may 
be better than a foot or more. It is pretty 
sure that bees have many times died from 
being too heavily " blanketed," as it were. 
The cushions should at all times be per- 
fectly protected from wet or dampness, for 
this very soon rots and destroys the cloth. 

FIXING THE CUSHIONS OVER THE BEES 
FOR WINTER. 

That the cushion may fill the upper story, 
and leave no crannies or interstices to allow 
frost to get in, or, by any chance, allow bees 
to push their way up under the cover during 
warm days in the winter, you are to put 
about a peck of soft, loose chaff over the 
mat, when fixing the bees for winter. 
Spread it around so as to fill completely all 
corners and crevices ; and if the brood-nest 
is contracted by a division-board, fill the 
empty space back of that with chaff. The 
loose chaff is to be kept there until the hon- 
ey-season opens, and you wish to use the 
upper story for surplus. If some of the 
chaff rattles down among the bees, it will 
do no harm, but rather good. If you want 
to open a hive, push the chaff over to one 
side. I would put in the chaff and cushions 
as soon as honey-gathering is over, or as 
soon as the nights become cool. 

BEST KIND OF CHAFF. 

After trying a great many kinds I have 
decided in favor of soft oat chaff. To get 
it free from dirt and the harder portions, I 
have had it run through a fanning-mill, and 
collected that portion which was blown fur- 



thest from the mill. This is soft and warm 
to touch, and ifc is easy to imagine how bees, 
mice, or any thing else, snugly tucked up in 
it, might pass the winter dry, warm, and in 
comfort. To Mr. J. II. Townley, of Tomp- 
kins, Mich., I am indebted for the idea of 
using chaff for a protection in wintering. 

now I LEARNED CHAFF- TACKING. 

If he is not the original inventor, he is at 
least entitled to the credit of bringing it 
prominently before the public. It was dur- 
ing the month of Sept., 1875, when he so 
strenuously insisted that I should try one 
hive on his plan that I could not well help 
complying. The following are the directions 
he gave me, taken from the Nov. No. of 
Gleanings for that year. 

Make the box water-tight, so that no water can 
get in from outside, and large enough to give you a 
space of three or more inches between hive and box, 
on all sides and top of hive. Arrange the entrance 
so that it cannot get clogged with dead bees (old bees 
will die, no danger of ice), take off top-board or cov- 
er, put two sticks an inch apart across the center of 
frames for winter passage, cover with cloth or mat 
(we use oldworn-out grain-sacks cut in pieces of 
suitable size), pack the space snugly with dry wheat 
chaff or finely cut straw (sawdust is not as good), and 
leave them there till fruit blossoms next year, or 
longer. On some cold freezing morning next April, 
open this hive and notice the difference between it 
and those outside. See how warm it is, how nicely 
the bees are spread over the combs in all parts of 
the hive, while in hives outside they are packed in 
a snug, compact, winter cluster, with more or less 
dead bees outside of the cluster, killed by the cold. 
We now have 60 stocks snugly packed in boxes, all 
ready for winter, where we shall leave them, with 
but little care and no anxiety for the next seven or 
eight months. We are so well pleased with our suc- 
cess in wintering and springing bees in these boxes 
for three seasons past, that we shall continue it un- 
til we do meet with disaster. 

Friend Novice, please pack one hive away as 
above described, now, and give it a fair, impartial 
trial, and oblige, Yours truly, J. H. Townley. 

Tompkins, Mich., Sept. 23, 1875. 

I prepared a hive exactly as he said. It was 
a fair colony, and they had an abundance of 
sealed stores, but it was no better than many 
others. I used an old grain-bag, as he had 
directed, and it was so very old that the bees 
bit holes through it, and let the chaff sift 
down into the hive on them. With the ex- 
ception of this trifling accident and the 
chaff packing, the bees of this colony had 
the same treatment as the rest of the apiary. 
I will give you some extracts from Glean- 
ings, in regard to this colony and some oth- 
ers, and bearing directly on this matter of 
chaff-packing. 

The following extracts are taken from Glean- 
ings in Bee Culture for 1875-70 : 

Nov. 20.— We are trying'five hives in the 



WINTERING. 



290 



WINTERING. 



open air ; the Quiuby hive, which contains 
about the best colony in the apiary, and 
would winter well without chaff or any thing 
else ; a 20- frame hive, which has two col- 
onies in it ; the hive with the burnt candy ; 
and two other fair stocks to test the advan- 
tage of a close hive compared with an open 
one. One of the latter is to be tucked up 
snugly with a quilt, and the other is to be 
put on eight combs in the center of a two- 
story L. hive, with nothing over or around 
the bees, except the cover to keep off rain. 
Both are carefully weighed, and neither have 
been ''tinkered" with by late feeding. 
Double walls and chaff and straw packing 
have been so much extolled, we wish to try 
the opposite— no protection at all. 

Feb. 8.— It is warm again now, but we 
have just had a zero spell, and our colony 
that we purposely left with neither sides nor 
cover to their defenseless heads, except the 
cover to the upper story to keep off the rain, 
for the first time this winter seemed to be 
the worse for such treatment ; in fact, about 
one-half were cold in death, martyrs to the 
cause of science. "So bees do really freeze," 
tlwught I ; but an examination showed that 
they did not freeze, they only starved after 
all ; for on one side of the comb where there 
was no honey, every one was dead ; but on 
the other, where there was an abundance of 
stores, they were all alive. There was 
plenty of honey in all the combs, except 
where the dead bees were found; in this 
there was none for several inches ; and to 
get what there was they were obliged to get 
out in the cold or over the top of the comb, 
neither of which they could do during zero 
weather. Now, it may be said that winter 
passages in the combs would have saved 
them; but even if they would, it will be 
cheaper to have plenty of bees, a good, gen- 
erous-sized warm quilt nicely tucked up 
over their heads, and a division-board to re- 
duce the size of the hive for wintering, to as 
small a space as consistent with an ample 
supply of food. All the rest of our colonies 
are in fair trim, and those in the house-apia- 
ry scarcely seem to feel, as yet, the winter 
at all. 

April 26. — Perhaps the best colony we 
have is the cue in the Quinby hive that was 
packed on all sides and overhead with chaff, 
a la Townley. They were so strong they 
would probably have wintered well any- 
where, for we tried to get them to work in 
the boxes, and failed ; consequently they 
had every thing full of nice sealed clover 
honey. Now, I never saw a hive having too 



much stores, notwithstanding all that has 
been said about it. I have tried the effect 
of too little, and know just what it does; 
I now propose trying what the effect of too 
much will be. Our next best colony is the 
one in the hoop* hive, and they have been 
steadily increasing in numbers since Feb. 
Third best, eolony with imported queen, in 
house-apiary, on north side. Can not see 
that it makes any difference whether stocks 
are on north or south side. I should be glad 
to add that the several dollars' worth of oil 
that has been used keeping the house-apiary 
warmed for the past month has been of some 
sort of benefit to the brood ; but really, the 
bees outside that have taken their chances 
are just about as well off. The colony left 
with nothing over them finally died outright. 

It is now May 9th, and the bees in the 
house-apiary are going so rapidly that I fear 
none will be left. Those outside are most 
of them building up, but a few of the weak- 
est are yet going down with the well-knoAvn 
spring dwindling. Now, this Quinby hive 
that has the chaff over it is, as I have before 
said, considerably the best colony in the 
apiary ; they are out first in the morning, 
and fly when it is cold and rainy, and, so far 
as we can see, have not lost a bee; to tell 
the truth, they are so covered up that I 
could not open and overhaul them if I 
would, and perhaps that is one secret of 
their prosperity. Day before yesterday, 
while I was walking near the hive, a bit of 
chaff flew out of the entrance as if impelled 
by a draft of wind. "Halloo!" said I, "have 
you really become so strong as to send out a 
current of air for ventilation?" and I ap- 
proached and held the back of my hand be- 
fore the entrance. Sure enough, there was 
a steady, strong blast, and, what astonished 
me more, it was so warm that it seemed al- 
most as if it must come from an oven. 

I at once proceeded to my other hives, and 
not a breath of air could be perceived com- 
ing from the entrance of even the strongest. 
I went back to the Q. hive and pushed my 



*This hoop hive was one of my hobbies in 1875. The 
idea was, to give bees the same amount of ventila- 
tion in a wood hive that they would have in a straw 
one; the hive was therefore made of slats placed at. 
an angle so they would shed rain, but the walls of 
the hive were less than l . % inch in thickness. Strong: 
colonies wintered in such hives, but they kept away 
from the thin open walls, not only in winter, but in 
summer also; for they would not seal comb honey, 
when placed next to those cool outer walls. A half- 
inch board was next tried, but the bees showed 
more aversion to that than they did to an inch 
board. Next, I tried a half-inch board with a cush- 
ion against ir, and found the honey was sealed up 
better next to this, than next to the inch board. 
From these expeiiments, demonstrating that chaff 
cushions are needed in summer as well 85 winter, 
the chaff hive was worked out. 



WINTERING. 



297 



WINTERING. 



hand down into the chaff; and long before it 
reacked the bees, the warmth was very ap- 
parent ; as I touched the cloth that covered 
the combs I made the remark that I must 
have touched the cluster ; but as I slid my 
hand to the other end of the hive and then 
over and around the sides, I was obliged to 
admit that the cluster either filled 8 of the 
large Q. frames, or that the chaff had the 
astonishing property of so confining the heat 
that the whole hive was warmed up^ to a 
temperature that reminded one of handling 
a sitting hen. Perhaps it would be well to 
state here just how the hive was prepared 
last fall. The hive is wide enough inside to 
hold 16 frames side by side, and the side 
boards are tall enougn to hold 16 more set 
on top of the lower ones. Well, the direc- 
tions Mr. Q. sent with the hive were, to re- 
move all but 8 of the frames for winter, and 
to turn these 8 frames at right angles from 
their usual position, so that, when set in the 
middle of the hive, there would be a space 
of about 4 inches left on all sides for the 
chaff, etc., and over the top of the frames, a 
space of nearly a foot. Now, if a Quinby 
hive prepared in this way will always winter 
like this one, why has the plan been aban- 
doned V I once wrote in regard to the matter 
to Mr. Elwood, I think, and, if I am cor- 
rect, his reply was that the plan did not suc- 
ceed so well generally as wintering in the 
cellar. At all events, in Mr. Q.'s neighbor- 
hood, the plan of outdoor packing seems to 
have been pretty generally abandoned in 
favor of cellar wintering, notwithstanding 
the hive used (Q.) is most excellently adapted 
to being packed. Now, I can not help won- 
dering why they failed. If it were possible 
to have 100 stocks in the condition of this 
one, by the 1st of May, bee-keeping would 
be perfectly " splendid," as the little girls 
say ; and such colonies would be cheap, 
even if it cost $10.00 to put them in the nec- 
essary condition in the fall. If our friend 
Townley can and does winter a whole apia- 
ry in this way every time, why have others 
failed? It is true, our friend Butler did in- 
sist that I was stubborn in the matter, 
and perhaps I w r ould better own up that I 
was, and beg his pardon, for he certainly has 
been quite successful. 

For the benefit of those who did not have 
Vol. III., I will say that, in obedience to 
friend Townley's commands, after turning 
the frames around as mentioned, I covered 
them with a common grain bag, cut up, ex- 
pressly to have every thing just as he said, 
and then poured in and packed all around 



the bees about 5 bushels of oat chaff. Of 
course, I made a passage to the entrance, by 
laying a shingle over a couple of i-inch 
sticks. To get at the truth of this matter, I 
am going to waste some time and— chaff. 
In fact, I have already taken one of the 
weak colonies that was likely to die, stood 
the L. frames on end, slipped a grain-bag 
over all, put on an upper story, and filled 
both with chaff. They haven't got " hot " 
yet, but perhaps it needs more than i pint 
of bees for such an experiment. The swarm 
I have been talking about is the one that 
came from the suspended hive, July 24th, 
last year; and as I tried again to get them to 
fill the Quinby boxes, and they would not, 
they had every frame full of stores. I let 
them have it all, thinking I would try for 
once the consequences of too much food, if 
such a thing is possible. 

I am now going to have for my next hob- 
by, hives crammed full of stores, and no tin- 
kering during cool or cold weather ; no di- 
viding until natural swarming commences, 
and, if honey is the object, perhaps no divid- 
ing or swarming at all, if it can be avoided; 
no extracting until the combs below are 
filled to their utmost, and no extracting 
under any circumstances that may render it 
necessary to feed the same back again. Of 
all the blunders in bee culture, I think there 
are few greater than fussing to get the hon- 
ey out of the combs where it is nicely sealed 
up, and then fussing, at still greater lengths, 
to get it back into the same combs, and 
sealed up in the same way, if we can. "And 
give up feeding?" At present I ivould give 
up feeding, at least where one has as much 
to do as I have. Why, just think of it ! the 
best colony in our apiary has not had one 
minute's time expended on it for the past 
six months. At that rate, one person could 
take charge of 1000 hives until the time for 
surplus honey came; and should there be no 
surplus honey he might do it the year round, 
for all that would then be required would be 
to see that each one had a good queen, and 
the bees would do the rest. At the rate at 
which good colonies of bees sell, he could do 
a thriving business selling them, if he didn't 
get an ounce of honey ; and should a great 
yield of honey come, he ought to be able to 
hire help at a price that would pay for tak- 
ing care of it, if he were not burdened with 
too many "new inventions." Now, all these 
bright visions could be realized without 
trouble, if every colony as well supplied as 
was the one from which we are taking this 
text w r ould only thrive in the same way. 



WINTERING. 



298 



WINTERING. 



The 20-frame hive wintered beautifully 
winter before last, because it contained two 
good colonies; but during the past winter, a 
fair colony went down to a pint, and the 
rest of our apiary went down in the same 
way more or less, during the month of April, 
or after they commenced to raise brood 
briskly. Is it possible that this spring- 
dwindling has all been caused by allowing 
the juvenile bees to get sore throats, etc., on 
account of the brisk draft that our modern 
hives allow, when they are just the age to 
want to be tucked up? Keeping them warm 
with a tight board box has been no better; 
a tight board box would be small comfort to 
one of us on a frosty night; but plenty of 
warm, porous bed clothing would enable 
even an infant to keep comfortable. Corn- 
fodder and straw put around hives and over 
them may keep the wind off, but they assur- 
edly can not confine the animal heat in any 
such manner as the soft dry oat chaff that is 
separated from the bees on all sides by only 
a, thin piece of cloth. Again, a packing of 
straw, or a straw mat over a strong colony 
of bees, maybe a very good thing ; but can it 
amount to very much when there are cracks 
all around where the warm air can creep out, 
and when the sides are only cold, hard 
boards after all? How would you like to 
sleep in a bed made in that way? Would not 
the children begin to dwindle out in just 
about the way the bees do? Another thing: 
we don't cover our children with a board or 
an oil-cloth, or paper or canvas ; but we 
have wool and flannel. As the bees seem pe- 
culiarly sensitive to accumulations of damp- 
ness, I am inclined to think that even these 
would get damp and moldy. In fact, I have 
had some such experience; but the soft chaff, 
I think, is going to fully meet the require- 
ments. Is it not possible that our fathers 
knew what was best when they decided on 
the old straw hive? Several weak colonies 
have starved because it was too cool for 
them to crawl up to a feeder containing syr- 
up, while this Q. hive has bees all day and 
all night, walking around on the bare 
ground in front of the entrance, which is 
kept warm by this blast of warm air that is 
constantly passing out of one of the en- 
trances, while a stream of cold air goes in at 
the other. 

Several years ago we had a very weak nu- 
cleus in the fall; and as they were out of 
stores (they were in the American hive) we 
gave them one L. frame moderately filled 
with stores. To get this frame into the A. 
hive, we were obliged to stand it on end ; and 



as this looked like a rather cold and "loose" 
arrangement, we packed some very fine, soft 
hay all around and over the top. As there 
was but the one hive, we did it well and 
carefully ; and so closely was the hay or grass 
packed, not a bee found a chance to get out 
during the whole four months. Well, we 
supposed this frame of stores would last 
them only a month or so ; and, to deter- 
mine when they would need more food, we 
tapped on the hive occasionally (they were 
in the cellar), to see if they responded 
promptly. Well, they answered every time 
until the next April ; and when they were 
put out they were all alive, and had nearly 
all of their frame of honey left. As this was 
our first experiment with indoor wintering, 
we were jubilant over it, and the next win- 
ter put all our colonies in the cellar — omit- 
ting the hay (of course, that could not be im- 
portant, we then thought, and it may be a 
good place right here to apologize to those 
whom we have ridiculed for packing their 
bees and putting them in the cellar besides), 
and when they died with dysentery worse 
than ever before, it did not occur to us then 
that the hay had any thing to do with the 
matter. If, after all these years, our un- 
lucky nose has, at last, by accident, been 
turned in the right direction, we shall be 
very thankful. 

May 18.— As the bees were crowding out 
of the Q. hive to-day, I removed the chaff 
covering. The colony is a mammoth one 
for the season, and we found solid sheets of 
sealed brood in nearly every one of the 8 
large Q. frames. The chaff protected them 
so well that they seem to have been entire- 
ly free from the dwindling that has affected 
nearly every other colony ; of course, the 
abundance of bees and stores in the fall, 
as well as the chaff, had much to do with it. 
To get at the real virtues of this chaff idea, 
I am making some experiments now, which, 
I hope, will tell me before another winter 
just how much to expect from it. If I can 
Keep the whole interior of the hive warm, 
even in June, during cold storms and cool 
nights, by some such porous covering, I 
think it will be quite an item ; perhaps it, 
like many other things, when well tested, 
may turn out to be an accidental success 
after all; but I wish to know just what it 
does. 

Last year we did not clip our queens' 
wings ; but with the prospect now before us 
(several colonies are strong enough to 
swarm) we have concluded to have all clip- 
ped. 



WINTERING. 



299 



WINTERING. 



Now in regard to closed-end frames : I 
found the queens, moved the division- 
boards, and had the hives all closed up, 
where there were suspended frames, in 
an amount of time that seemed insignifi- 
cant compared to that required to per- 
form the same operations with a closed- 
end Q. frame ; and the statement made by a 
few, that such hives can be handled as rap- 
idly as the suspended frames, seems to me 
positively awful. With a small colony and 
a new hive, either closed-top or closed-end 
frames may be handled very well ; but with 
an old hive so fall of bees that they cover 
the end-bars of the frames so as to prevent 
your seeing the wood at all, and frames so 
heavy as to make your back ache while you 
stoop in the hot sun and look first at one 
end and then at the other, to see if you are 
killing bees, and those hybrids, too,— well, if 
you think we don't know how, try one such 
hive yourself, or visit some one who knows 
how, if such there be. A careless person 
might not be aware that he killed bees at 
all, and some do not seem to care ; but to me, 
the sight of the quivering form of a crushed 
and mangled little fellow when he is inno- 
cently standing in the threshold of his own 
door, or peering out at the blue sky, while 
the closed ends are being brought up into 
place, is enough to spoil the pleasure of bee- 
keeping. 

June 14. — To open up the season's cam- 
paign, the Quinby hive sent out a rousing 
swarm to-day. Now, even after this swarm 
was hived, and had sent to the field more 
workers than any two stocks in the apiary, 
the old hive kept on at work with almost 
the same force as before, for they had been 
for a couple of days rather inclined to loaf 
on the front of the hive. Before swarming, 
they stored 50 lbs., perhaps, in boxes, and 
there are bees enough left to keep the work 
going right along. What do you suppose an 
apiary of 100 stocks like this one would 
amount to :* and this is the Quinby hive that 
we have tried 4 seasons, and, heretofore, un- 
successfully. Although our esteemed friend 
who invented it is departed, his works bid 
fair to keep him in kind remembrance many 
days. 

June 27.— Hurrah for chaff ! The Quinby 
hive has sent out a large second swarm. 

Sept. 5. — Our Quinby hive (packed with 
chaff) has given us four swarms, and all are 
now good strong colonies. If the chaff 
packing should work as well next winter, 
why may not the 5 increase to 25? This 
would be 25 from one, in two seasons. But 
this is not all ; the first swarm stored full 50 



lbs. in empty combs, and since these were 
removed has given us about 25 lbs. in sec- 
tions. The second swarm has made about 
25 lbs. of comb honey, and the third about 
10; all four, as well as the old colony, have 
their hives crammed with stores, and the 
original stock has stored about 100 lbs. of 
honey in the Quinby boxes. Think of it ! 
Five colonies amply provisioned for winter, 
and 185 lbs. comb honey, from one in the 
spring I— End of extract. 

From the above, you can see what turned 
my mind so vehemently in favor of chaff. 
The same winter in which I packed the Q. 
hive, as given above, I wintered the bees in 
the house apiary, with only a single thick- 
ness of cloth over the frames. The result 
was, they dwindled the worst of any bees I 
ever tried to winter, and I lost, if I am cor- 
rect, every colony but one or two. The win- 
ter after, I protected them with heavy chaff 
cushions, and they all wintered nicely : not 
as well, quite, as the Q. hive, it is true, but 
they were not as perfectly protected on all 
sides. Since it is so much labor to handle 
the Q. frames (as I have before mentioned), 
the next winter I tried a similar arrange- 
ment with the L. frames enveloped in a 
large case, with chaff, or cushions, on all 
sides. All colonies so packed came out all 
right. My neighbors made similar experi- 
ments, and they, too, as well as friend 
Townley, reported the same, with scarcely 
an exception. From these experiments I 
worked out the chaff hive which I have here 
described, and, after a three-years 1 test, tak- 
ing all things into consideration, I consider 
it the simplest and safest means by which 
bees can be wintered. The second year our 
bees were all packed in chaff, and the result 
is given briefly in the following editorial, in 
the May No. of Gleanings, 1877 : 

April 29, 1877.— We have sold $250.00 worth of bees 
out of the 100 colonies reported last month, and have 
75 good colonies left. Is not that a little better than 
the reports we have been in the habit of making for 
the month of April? An income from bees, in the 
spring, is certainly quite a pleasant thing to have. 
Hurrah for the chaff cushions! and many thanks to 
friend Townley. 

The winter of 1877-78 was very mild, and 
bees wintered well in chaff hives, and in 
hives of every other kind, so that our bee- 
keepers, myself among the number, doubt- 
less got a little careless, and in undertaking 
to winter small colonies in the same way in 
the winter of 1878-79, disastrous losses fol- 
lowed. Strong colonies in chaff hives came 
out, as a general thing, as strong as the§ r 
had in the preceding winters ; but bees in 
common hives, and rather weak colonies in 



WINTERING. 



oOO 



WINTERING. 



chaff hives, fared badly. The general testi- 
mony from bee-keepers all over our land is 
so strongly in favor of the chaff hives, that 
there can be no doubt about their coming 
into very general use for a winter hive. The 
Simplicities, from their lightness and con- 
venience in handling, will always be in 
great demand for summer work. It is but 
a moment's work to lift the combs from one 
into the other. 

WINTERING IN CELLARS OR SrECIAL RE- 
POSITORIES. 

A few years ago, cellars and special re- 
positories became all at once very popular, 
and bee-keepers all over our land, especially 
in the northern localities, invested much la- 
bor and money in constructing good frost- 
proof cellars, or sawdust - packed buildings 
above ground. In 1868 I put up such a 
building, and packed the walls with 8 inches 
of sawdust, and also put sawdust between 
the floors and overhead, and wintered 4S 
colonies in it without losing a single one. 
A neighboring bee-keeper who used one 
similarly constructed had wintered in his 
for nearly a dozen years, and, at that time, 
had never lost a colony in it. These results 
seemed pretty nearly conclusive ; but a few 
years later, when the spring dwindling, as 
it lias been called, made its appearance, my 
neighbor and I both made the discovery, 
that bees taken out in March, in fair order, 
would often, in spite of us, become reduced, 
before the end of April, to a mere handful, 
and then perish outright, or leave their 
hives and swarm out as I have mentioned 
under the head of Absconding Swarms ; 
while at the same time, good strong colo- 
nies left outdoors, without any especial 
care, would often be full of bees, and ready 
to swarm. I do not mean to say that such 
was generally the case, but there were al- 
ways more or less in the neighborhood that 
would winter finely without care, while 
many so carefully housed would turn out 
disastrously. A neighbor who had devoted 
almost his whole time to his bees would be 
obliged, in spite of his well-made bee-house, 
to buy black bees in the spring to keep his 
Italians alive, and the strong colonies of 
black bees were invariably wintered almost 
without loss, in an open shed, in cheap, un- 
tainted box hives. Even the Tork - State 
bee-keepers, with their splendid cellars built 
especially for their bees, if I am correct, 
often used to go off into the country and 
buy black bees in the same way, to get an- 
other start in the spring. It is so difficult to 
get many of them to report their losses, that 



I am unable to say whether they do any bet- 
ter of late years or not. I presume they do, 
for I should be very sorry to think we were 
making no progress in this one great draw- 
back to bee culture. 

The bee - houses answered very well the 
purpose of protecting the bees from the ef- 
fects of frost during ordinary winters ; but 
when we happened to have a very severe 
spell of several days' duration, the walls 
would collect ice and dampness, in the way 
I have explained in a former part of this ar- 
ticle ; and when the weather moderated, the 
melting of this ice made the room damp 
and unwholesome, in spite of the ventilat- 
ing-tubes or any thing else that could well be 
arranged in such a building. If the weath- 
er came off very warm, as it frequently does 
even in midwinter, in our locality, the bees 
would very naturally want to get out, and 
then ensues a disturbance that is very likely 
to result in trouble, unless the w r eather 
speedily changes. The houses may answer 
well for one or two winters, or even more; 
but with the changeable weather we have 
here, I am forced to consider them more 
trouble than profit, taking them for a series 
of years together. To illustrate what we 
have to contend with, I will mention that, in 
the month of Jan., 1878, we had such a spell 
of warm weather that dandelions were 
found in blossom, and the bees raised brood 
and grew strong almost all the winter 
through. Well, the winter after, during al- 
most all the month of Jan., the thermometer 
stood from 10° to 20° below zero, and, the 
spring being late and cold, the spring 
dwindling had a " run," almost unknown 
before. One-half to perhaps three-fourths 
of all the bees in the Northern States per- 
ished. Houses and cellars were a splendid 
investment for such a winter, while they 
might have been a perfect nuisance the win- 
ter before. 

ADVANTAGES OF A CELLAR OVER A ROOM 
ABOVE GROUND. 

Now, a good cellar has one very obvious 
advantage over any building made above 
ground, for the earth at the sides and under 
the floor will shut out frost in those direc- 
tions, and a good building overhead will 
afford protection above. It is not, in fact, 
very difficult to make a cellar without win- 
dows perfectly frost-proof, and we want no 
windows in the apartment where the bees 
are kept; for the darker it can be made, the 
better. Besides keeping the frost out, a 
good cellar is comparatively cool, even in 
the summer time, a condition that is hard 



WINTERING. 



301 



WINTERING. 



to be secured in a room above ground. 
What, then, is the objection to a cellar? The 
principal one, in our clay soil here in Medi- 
na, is that it is almost of a necessity damp. 
A good, clean, dry, frost-proof cellar, in a 
sandy soil, is perhaps as good a place for 
wintering bees as can well be arranged. If 
it can be in a sandy side-hill, so that the 
bottom of the cellar is on a level with the 
apiary, it seems as if almost nothing more 
could be asked. I should ask one thing 
more, however, and that is, that the hives be 
arranged permanently in this cellar, and the 
bees be allowed to go out at their pleasure, 
as they do in the house-apiary. There are 
two difficulties in the way of doing this: 
Eirst. it would be difficult to fix an entrance 
not too long, and that would not admit 
frost; second, the bees would lack the ben- 
efit of the warmth of the sun during the 
spring months. I do not see, at present, 
how we can get any thing much better than 
the chaff hives and the house-apiary. 95 

HOW TO GET RID OF DAMPNESS, AND SE- 
CURE PERFECT VENTILATION IN 
CELLARS. 

It was long ago noticed by many, that 
bees wintered in cellars directly under the 
kitchen stove came out in fine condition, 
while others where there was no stove near 
the bees wintered badly. This seemed to 
show conclusively the benefit of artificial 
heat, for warming and drying the atmos- 
phere. If you will recall what has been 
said in regard to cold and warm currents of 
air, you will see that, to change the air 
thoroughly in any apartment, you must get 
up a circulation by heating a portion of the 
air, or by other means. Putting a stove in 
a room or cellar answers nicely for drying 
and thoroughly ventilating the apartment 
at one and the same time. As this would 
be likely to cause a disturbance among the 
bees, it is much better to run a pipe, such 
as a stove-pipe, into or through the room. 
A very common plan is to attach a pipe by 
an elbow to the pipe coming from the cook- 
ing stove. Carry this down into your bee- 
cellar to within 6 inches of the floor. The 
draft from the stove will "pull" the air up, 
even the damp air from the floor, and fresh 
air will find its way in through the crevices, 
to take its place. If you wish to be sure 
that a current of air is constantly going up 
this pipe, throw a burning rag or paper on 
the floor, and the smoke will show you how 
the air rushes up the pipe. 

I believe the large bee-keepers of York 
State have generally decided on indoor 



wintering, and Mr. L. C. Root, in his Quin- 
by's Bee- Keeping, just out (May, 1879), gives 
us some very valuable ideas on the matter. 
Recognizing the points I have just men- 
tioned, they have, at considerable expense, 
prepared underground rooms, to be dried 
and heated by suitably arranged furnaces. 
They have entirely discarded buildings 
built above ground. Mr. Root particularly 
enjoins quietness, and to this end advises 
that no one go into the bee-room during the 
winter. Also that the hives be supported 
from the floor, or ground, and not placed on 
shelves or benches, as is so commonly done. 
This would avoid disturbing the bees in the 
other hives, when you are handling any one 
of them. The clamps or cellars are, if pos- 
sible, built in a side-hill, and the roof over- 
head is covered by at least a foot of dry 
earth, which is kept dry by a good shingle 
roof over this. The bees are to be put in 
these rooms during dry weather in the fall, 
and, if I am correct, they are not to be taken 
out until pollen and honey can be obtained 
in the spring. 

I hardly need to say that a cellar or frost- 
proof repository should have double doors; 
and if there be windows, they should be 
fixed in a manner that will be equivalent to 
making them double, being sure that no 
portion of the walls ever shows a bit of frost 
to melt, and thus produce dampness. A cel- 
lar within a cellar would be the thing ; and 
if it can be so perfectly protected from 
dampness that the dust on the floor will re- 
main dry all winter long, it is about as near- 
ly perfect as it can well be, if perfectly dark 
and well ventilated; that is, so far as getting 
the bees through the winter months is con- 
cerned. If I am correct, our greatest losses 
have been in the spring months, after the 
bees have been removed from their winter 
quarters. I shall have more to say on this, 
a little further along. 

PREPARING STOCKS FOR THEIR WINTER 
QUARTERS. 

We used to think, where bees were housed 
from Nov. until April, that we need only 
carry in the body of the hive, omitting cov- 
er and bottom-boards, and, in short, every 
thing but just the combs necessary to carry 
the bees and their stores, with enough of 
the hive to move them handily. Now, al- 
though I have wintered bees finely, having 
nothing at all over the frames while in the 
cellar or bee house, I would, taking all re- 
sults into consideration, pack them in chaff 
to be carried into the cellar, much the same 
as I would to winter them on their summer 



WINTERING. 



;<i2 



WINTERING. 



stands. Then, when carried out in the 
spring, they are proof against cold winds 
and cold nights, which almost always ensue. 
For the same reason, I would advise the 
chaff covering even in the Southern States, 
that the hees might be spared the chilling 
spells that are so much of a hindrance to 
brood-rearing, even though the weather is 
not down to a freezing-point. Bees with 
warm walls all about them are in a much 
better condition to go on with brood-rearing, 
than where the cluster touches cold, damp 
boards, and where cracks and crevices per- 
mit the warm air of the hive to pass out as 
fast as the bees can generate it. With a 
well-made chaff hive and a good colony of 
bees, I can keep brood-rearing going on by 
the use of the flour candy, right in the depth 
of winter, with the hive standing outdoors 
at that. In 1877 I hived a fourth swarm, 
late in the season, in a chaff hive, and, as an 
experiment, built them up during the win- 
ter, with a frame filled with the flour can- 
dy, until they were so strong in the spring 
that a customer chose them in preference to 
any other hive in the apiary, and paid me 
$15.00 cash for them, which gave^me an ex- 
cellent profit on all the time, sugar, etc., 
that was invested in the experiment. I 
would bundle them up in chaff or chaff 
cushions, no matter where they are to be 
wintered. The experiments I first made in 
this direction with the house-apiary also il- 
lustrate this subject. 

TIME OF PUTTING TIIE BEES INTO THE 
CELLAR. 

If they are packed and put away before 
the first frost comes, all the better; and 
please be sure to put them indoors during 
some dry day, that the hives and combs may 
be entirely free from dampness. You will 
have warm days after the first frost, I am 
well aware; and unless your cellar is as dark 
as the deepest midnight, and cool enough to 
prevent the bees from getting uneasy, you 
will have trouble about keeping them in 
their hives. This is one great reason why I 
object to cellar wintering. 96 Some bee-keep- 
ers advise taking them out for a fly during 
the winter, when we have a warm spell; 
others object to moving them at all, and per- 
haps both are right. Sometimes, carrying 
them out does good, and, at other times, it 
seems to do harm. If you have them in 
chaff hives or a house-apiary, they can go 
out whenever they please, and this plan 
pleases me much better. I do not like to be 
confined myself, and do not like to be 
obliged to confine any of God's creatures, 



when it can be avoided. I have sometimes 
had bees remain quiet and contented in the 
bee-house, and in the cellar, four months, 
without trouble, and, at other seasons, they 
would not be quiet one month. At present 
I do not know why bees winter well at one 
time, and at another do not, when all the 
circumstances, so far as we can see, are 
the same.'-" 

SHALL BEES BE CONFINED TO THEIR HIVES 
WHEN PUT INDOORS V 

If the bees are fastened in their hives with 
wire cloth, in such a way that the dead ones, 
in falling down, will not close and clog the 
entrance, I do not know that it makes any 
difference whether they are fastened in or 
not. ss In the one case they will die against 
the wire cloth, and in the other they will 
get out on the floor, and die. It is so untidy 
and disagreeable to have bees around on the 
floor, on the shelves, and all over the room, 
that I think I should fasten them in ; I have 
done it two seasons, and did not consider 
the quantity found dead in the hives great- 
er than we usually find on the floors. It 
has been recommended that an extra space 
be given below the frames, for the dead 
bees, that they may not clog up the en- 
trance. With the Simplicity hives, this can 
be readily furnished by turning the bottom- 
board hollowing side up, putting wire cloth 
over the openings at both the front and back 
end, and fastening the bottom-board in 
place. 

BEST TEMPERATURE FOR A CELLAR OR 
BEE-HOUSE. 

The general agreement has been on about 
40° ; but some of the York-State bee-keepers 
claim they can succeed by keeping them as 
warm as 50°. My experiments seem to in- 
dicate that such a temperature, in confine- 
ment, would induce dysentery; but a system- 
atic ventilation in connection with this tem- 
perature may answer better than the 40°. 

REMOVING THE BEES FROM THE CELLAR. 

If they do not get too restless, I would al- 
low them to remain until the soft-maples, or 
willow and alder, begin to furnish pollen. 
Put them out very early, in the morning of 
a warm pleasant day, if you can tell what 
morning will develop into a pleasant day. 
Set each hive out so quietly that none of the 
rest will be disturbed, if you can." I would 
a little prefer that each stock be placed on 
its usual summer stand, if it be practica- 
ble ; but if not, it may make but little differ- 
ence. Colonies often get badly mixed when 
first carried out, and queens are sometimes 
lost. Giving each one its old stand will do 



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303 



WINTERING. 



much to avoid this. If you doubt that the 
bees remember their old location, just set a 
single hive on a new stand, and see where 
the bees will go when suddenly disturbed, 
and allowed to fly. 

After they are all out, and nicely fixed as 
they were the fall before, keep a close watch 
that the weak ones do not swarm out, as 
they are quite prone to do, after their long 
confinement. I do not know but I may dis- 
gust you with indoor wintering, by the 
many difficulties I have been mentioning ; I 
want you to know what you have to contend 
with, even though I do discourage you. 

ADVANTAGES OF CELLAR WINTERING. 

L. C. Root estimates that bees wintered 
indoors probably save as much as 5 lbs. of 
honey per colony. This would be quite an 
item in an apiary of 100 hives. In contrast 
with the method of wintering outdoors with- 
out protection, I think he may be right; 
but with a properly prepared chaff hive, I 
think there will be little if any more hon- 
ey consumed, unless it is used in rearing 
brood, which will add to the strength of the 
colony. A colony may be so wintered as to 
consume scarcely any stores, but it may 
take them all the fore part of the honey 
season to recover strength enough to be of 
any value. 100 

NUMBER OF COLONIES TO BE PUT INTO ONE 
ROOM. 

Unless you have as many as 40 or 50, 1 
would not think of wintering them indoors ; 
for a few colonies would not be able to keep 
up the temperature of the room, and it 
would be liable to get very cold. Many fail- 
ures have been reported from trying to win- 
ter a dozen or more in a small room. 101 

ONE MORE HINT IN REGARD TO WINTERING. 

Sometimes a colony may run out of stores 
unexpectedly, and, to all appearances, be 
dead from starvation, the greater part of the 
bees on the bottom-board, and others with 
their heads in the cells. Now, if they have 
not been in this condition more than three 
or four days, they can often be revived by 
taking them into a warm room. As soon as 
they begin to show signs of life, sprinkle 
them with diluted honey or sweetened water. 
In the course of 2 to 6 or 8 hours they will 
come to life, as it were, crawl up on the 
combs, and be nearly as well as if their mis- 
hap had never happened. Such cases occur 
most frequently in the apiary, when the 
nights are not very cold. Valuable queens 
may often be saved when but few or none of 
the workes-beer can be resuscitated ; for it 
is a strange fact, that the queen's tenacity of 



life is greater than that of any of the work- 
ers. 

In my earlier experience I was trying very 
hard one year to winter my whole apiary, of 
48 colonies, without any loss. I did it, but 
one of them came so near being lost that it 
was saved only by the above treatment ; 
therefore, friends, don't be in a hurry to de- 
cide that a colony is lost irretrievably. 

SUMMING UP THE MATTER OF WINTERING. 

Taking all things into consideration, my 
advice to the ABC class, and to all others 
who have not large apiaries and large ex- 
perience, is to winter in chaff -packed hives, 
in the open air, on their summer stands. If 
it were as pleasant and convenient to handle 
bees in the house-apiary as in the open air, I 
should say, have a house-apiary. 

SPRING DWINDLING. 

I do not know whether to style this a dis- 
ease, or a condition of things that comes 
about naturally during cokl and backward 
springs. I should incline to the latter, were 
not its ravages so uncertain; that is, it 
seems to affect a part of an apiary and not 
another part; and, at times, it will go all 
through one apiary, while another, a few 
miles away, will be entirely free from it. It 
is very certain that it afflicts weak colonies, 
as a general thing, more than strong ones, 
but there are exceptions even to this. It is 
much worse after a long, hard winter, and 
it disappears always at the approach of set- 
tled warm weather and new honey. Al- 
though it does not generally seem to affect 
stocks before March, I have seen them af- 
fected by it from Feb. until June. I have 
even known colonies to be listless and life- 
less from its effects, until others in the api- 
ary were sending out rousing swarms. 
Strong colonies that are raising brood vig- 
orously seldom seem affected by it; but I 
suspect they are affected more or less by it, 
or by the condition of things, but have suf- 
ficient vigor and strength— animal heat, if 
you please— to pull through until there is 
plenty of warm weather, new pollen, and 
new honey. 

It made us but little if any trouble in 
our apiary, during the spring of 1878; but 
we had such a siege of it in 1879 that an ex- 
tract from Gleanings of that year, for 
May, will make a very good description of it. 

SPRING DWINDLING. 

A Beport from the Battle-Field, by an '•Eye- 
witness.'''' 
To-day is the 15th of April, and scarcely a 
bit of pollen has been gathered. The buds 



WINTERING. 



304 



WINTERING. 



of the soft - maple are open; but, for some 
reason which I can not give, not a bee is to 
be seen hovering near them ; the slippery 
elm is also in bloom, but, strange to say, 
not a bee hums about it either. The weath- 
er has not been very warm, and there is a 
cool north wind which may account in part 
for the seeming indifference of the bees to 
blossoms. Last month I reported 85 col- 
onies left. Since then, one after another, 
they have been dwindling down in a won- 
derfully short space of time, and stocks that 
were called fair, having brood on several 
combs a week ago, are now found with only 
a handful of bees, the brood dead by expos- 
ure, the unsealed larvae starving and drying 
up in the cells, and a general air of discour- 
agement all about the hives. Some colonies 
bring in a little pollen now and then, but 
the great part of them seem to have sus- 
pended work, and the bees are loafing idly 
about on the combs. Usually we find a row 
of cells of unsealed honey around the young 
brood, but now the heavy combs of sealed 
stores remain untouched, and not a cell of 
honey is placed close to the brood for imme- 
diate use, and every bee seems to have stop- 
ped work. When we open hives there is 
no need of a smoker, for the greater part of 
the bees seem too listless to care to show 
fight. Some cases seem to indicate that the 
black bees are less affected than the Ital- 
ians; but, again, we find heavy stocks of 
blacks, in box hives, bought of some of our 
neighbors, all at once reduced to a handful, 
the queen gone, and the whole establish- 
ment an easy prey to robbers, if the robbers 
had energy enough to appropriate it. The 
dwindling is not in my apiary alone, but is 
also lessening the stocks of the farmers and 
other bee - keepers in our vicinity, and, in 
fact, all over our land. Not that everybody 
has lost thus, for many whole apiaries seem 
to have wintered as well as they ever did, 
but the losses seem to extend so widely 
that it is almost impossible to ascribe it to 
any special locality, or kind of stores. The 
chaff hives, it is true, were all right when 
the others were dying off at a rapid rate; but 
within the past week they, too, have begun 
to follow the rest, at a rate that is alarming. 
The house-apiary, somewhat to my aston- 
ishment, seems almost unaffected, only that 
they are making very slow progress in brood- 
rearing, and a very few stocks show signs of 
the universal dwindling. Even the flour 
candy seems to have lost its potency to start 
brood - rearing. I have had experience in 
this same line before, and it seems to me 



that nothing but new honey and new pollen 
can revive the drooping courage of our little 
pets. I need hardly add that grape sugar 
has nothing to do with it, for apiaries where 
it has never been used are just as much af- 
fected. The bees have died close up to 
combs of sealed clover honey. No symp- 
toms of dysentery are to be seen. Meal has 
been given them in fine weather, but their 
zeal for it has been nothing like what it is 
usually. There are now 55 "hives with bees 
in them," in our apiary. Perhaps a dozen of 
these have queen-cells, instead of queens. 
Four whole colonies, 9 nuclei, and 35 queens 
(48 in all) have been sold. I am thus partic- 
ular in giving these details, because I think 
all who embark in bee culture should have a 
fair view of the obstacles they may have to 
contend with. We went into winter quar- 
ters with 166 colonies. 

It is not often that I disobey orders, but 
the following describes so vividly the condi- 
tion of my bees, except those in the house 
apiary, that I have concluded to run the 
risk, and give it. It may make some poor 
fellow feel better, friend Bray, for you know 
that misery loves company. 

Well, I went into winter with about 130 colonies of 
bees. To-day I think I can house all I have left, in a 
'i. bushel measure— yes, I believe I could put them 
in a peck basket. Don't publish this. It would cost 
me about $500 to replace them. What's the matter? 
However, I shall not give up. Can you offer me any 
consolation? I hope ycu had better luck than I 
have had. J. B. Bray. 

Lynnville, Tenn., Mar. 28. 1879. 



April 25. — We have now had nearly a 
week of beautiful weather, and the troubles 
are all over. The bees are at work on the 
maples; and under the influence of new hon- 




AN EXPERIENCE THAT " BLESSED 
DIDN'T TELL OF. 



WINTERING. 



305 



WINTERING. 



ey and pollen, every thing is promising. 
The weak colonies have still quite a propen- 
sity to swarm out, and, for some strange rea- 
son, our queens most unexpectedly turn up 
missing every day or two. This trouble 
seems mostly confined to the black queens 
in hives I have purchased, so we can not 
well ascribe it to artificial ways of manag- 
ing. The farmers in the country round 
about us have lost most heavily. Our 
neighbor Shaw, of Chatham, strange to tell, 
has come through again this winter, without 
the loss of a single colony. His hives are 
not chaff -packed, but are double, with a dead- 
air space between the walls. Those of our 
neighbors who reared queens for sale last 
season have generally lost badly. Our en- 
graver, who had quite a fine little apiary in 
the fall, has now but two colonies left. His 
imported queen went with the rest, and it 
was perhaps his sad experience that prompt- 
ed our cartoon for this month, which I may 
as well give you right here. 

End of extract. 

It may be well to state that the bees in 
1879 were not as well protected as in the 
former year, but the fact that colonies in 
the chaff hives were eventually affected, 
proves that chaff, with all our pains, is not 
a positive preventive. 

CUKE FOR SPRING DWINDLING. 

As L have said before, I know of no posi- 
tive cure except warm weather, and this 
always does away with it entirely ; were this 
not the case, I should hardly be willing to 
class this great drawback to successful bee 
culture, under the head of wintering. The 
question now arises, Can we not, by the use 
of artificial heat, bring about such a state 
of affairs as is produced by warm weather ? 
In other words, can we not, by going to the 
necessary expense and trouble, save our 
bees and queens, even though seasonable 
weather does not come ? Many experiments 
have been made in the matter, and some of 
them, apparently, have succeeded; but, on 
the other hand, many of them have signally 
failed. I have started healthy brood-rearing 
in every month in the year, by means of ar- 
tificial heat; but to take a whole apiary that 
is running down, in the month of April, and 
build it up, prevent the colonies from 
swarming out, and the queens from desert- 
ing and dying, is something I have never 
succeeded in doing. 

A singular part of the whole matter is, 
that our friends in the South should suffer 
in the same way, and even worse than we in 
the North, as the letter I have given in the 



extract above indicates. Similar cases have 
been reported almost all over the South, al- 
though it is a more unusual thing there for 
bees to die with plenty of stores in the hives. 
There are considerable apiaries in Medina 
Co., which, until within the past two years, 
have scarcely known a case of this spring 
dwindling, but which have lately been badly 
affected. Two of the owners have excellent 
cellars, and, heretofore, have rather ridi- 
culed the idea that spring dwindling was 
due to other causes than careless manage- 
ment. Therefore, my friends, I am sorry to 
say that, though you have hitherto never 
lost a colony in your life, you must not be 
astonished or disappointed should you, some 
spring, see all your colonies go down to 
handfuls, in spite of all you can do, and per- 
haps perish outright. If I am mistaken, I 
shall be very glad to know it, but I think it 
will be safest to base our calculations on 
the assumption that bee culture, in some 
respects, is a hazardous business, even with 
the most thorough and careful. 

WHAT TO DO WHEN YOUR BEES GET 
" SPRING DWINDLING." 

Look them over every other day, if neces- 
sary, and close up the division-boards, tak- 
ing out all combs they can not cover. As 
soon as a colony gets so weak that it can not 
cover two combs, unite it with some other 
weak one ; also, whenever you find colonies 
queenless, unite them with others. If you 
have the real dwindling, you will find queen- 
cells started and queens missing, at almost 
every round you take among the hives. 
This is because the colonies have become 
disheartened and demoralized; and the only 
thing that will prevent this demoralization 
is to double them up until there are num- 
bers enough to repel the frost, and make 
them feel that there is some use in trying to 
hold out. It may be that these same colo- 
nies that you double up and make strong 
one day will need the same thing done 
again within the next 3 days, but there is no 
help for it. Keep the brood together so as 
to have it protected as much as possible, and 
keep reducing your colonies until they stop 
losing bees with such rapidity. The ques- 
tion may be asked, What becomes of the bees? 
I believe, generally, they fly out of the hives, 
and never get back again. Daring cool sun- 
shiny days they may be seen on the fences 
and sidewalks, on the grass and like places, 
often laden with pollen, showing clearly 
that they are trying to make a live of it, and 
doing the best they can. 102 I have sometimes 
thought they became so chilled in their mea- 



WINTERING. 3« 

ger clusters at home, that they had not suf- 
ficient vigor to withstand the chilly spring 
winds as a bee from a powerful and prosper- 
ous colony would. As the Italians are more 
eager for stores than the common bees, it 
may be that this is one reason why they are 
often said to be more liable to this dwindling 
than the common bees. 

Now, in regard to a decreasing apiary, al- 
low me to say, even if the bees do get de- 
moralized, you must not. Fix up the hives 
and combs where the bees have died. Brush 
out the dead bees and bury them, that in- 
quisitive visitors may not make a great fuss 
on seeing heaps of dead bees; and while you 
make a retreat, do every thing in good order. 
Make the apiary neat and tidy, just as you 
would if every hive were boiling over with 
bees. Do not leave any filled combs exposed 
to robbers; but as fast as they are taken from 
the bees, either shut them up in bee-tight 
hives, or carry them into your bee-house. 
Your neighbor may have hives strong with 
bees that will like no better fun than to clean 
your hives out ; and after they get once to 
going, you may find they will clean out your 
hives that have bees in them too. During 
the past few weeks I have had more com- 
plaints of robbing in connection with this 
spring dwindling, than ever before, perhaps, 
in the spring. Some of the friends seem in- 
clined to lay the whole trouble to the vicious 
bees belonging to their neighbors, or coming 
from the woods. 

During the doubling-up process mentioned 
above, many queens will be thrown out ; and 
if the season is far enough advanced, they 
may be sold to those about you who have 
colonies strong enough to div ide. Asa proof 
that these queens are just as good as any, 
just put them into a strong colony and you 
will see them go to work just as well as they 
did during the summer previous. 

Well, suppose the bees all die ; what then ? 
Why, you must do the best you can ; and if 
none are left, go out among those about you 
who are more fortunate, and buy more. By 
paying a dollar a lb. for bees, as I have done 
for the past month, or by buying hives and 
all, as cheap as you can, with your stock of 
hives and combs you may build them up at 
a rate that may astonish not only those about 
you, but even yourself as well. In order to 
save your queens it may be well to purchase 
before your bees are quite all gone. You 
will find that bees from another yard will 
take hold and go to work just as well as they 
ever did. Even this 10th day of June I have 
noticed colonies that seem not to have re- 



3 WINTERING. 

covered entirely from the siege they have 
just passed through, while stocks right by 
their side, no heavier, but which were pur- 
chased 10 miles away, perhaps, seem to rear 
brood and build up equal to any thing I 
ever saw. 

WHAT TO DO WITH COMBS FROM niVES 
WHERE THE BEES HAVE DIED. 

Put them safely out of the way of bees, 
either in tight hives or in a bee-proof room ; 
and if you have not bees enough to cover 
them by the middle of June, or at such a 
time as you shall find moth worms at work 
among them, be sure that all the combs are 
spread at least two inches apart, as recom- 
mended in Bee-moth. Now, whatever oth- 
er precautions you take, you must look after 
these empty combs occasionally. They are 
very valuable, and must not be allowed to 
be destroyed. A very good way to keep 
them is to put them in empty Simplicity 
hives, piled one over the other. This keeps 
them perfectly protected, and yet you can 
quickly look them all over as often as once 
a week at least, until they are used. But, 
suppose they do get moldy, or full of worms, 
what then V 

W r IIAT TO DO WITn COMBS THAT ARE 

SOILED, MOLDY, AND FILLED 

WITH DEAD BEES. 

When I wrote the article on Dysentery 
I forgot to mention what should be done 
with the combs after the bees had died. 
Many times you will find the cells full of 
dead bees ; and any one who has tried it will 
know what an endless task it is to try to 
pick them out. Well, do not try; but just 
take these combs and set them away until 
you want empty combs to build up stocks, 
and then hang them, one at a time, in the 
center of a populous colony. After a few 
hours, just take a peep at your comb, and 
see how the bees do it. If it is at a season 
when honey is coining in, it will have un- 
dergone such a transformation you can 
scarcely believe your eyes, when you come 
to take a look at it. I have put in combs 
that were full of dead bees, filthy from the 
effects of dysentery, and moldy besides, and 
found them in the afternoon of the same 
day, clean, bright, and sweet, holes patched 
up, and partly filled with eggs, honey, and 
pollen. In one case I hunted the hive all 
over for my bad comb, and then came pret- 
ty near declaring somebody had taken it 
away; there was no comb there that could 
be identified as the bad one. Do not ex- 
tract the hjney, pick out the bees, or fuss to 
wash them off with water ; just let the bees 
try their hand at it, and see. Do not give 



WINTERING. 



307 



WINTERING. 



them too many bad combs at once, or they 
may get discouraged, and swarm out. Give 
them one ; after a few hours, another ; and 
you will very soon have them all right. 
How do they do it so quickly V Well, each 
bee takes a cell ; and when he has his cell 
finished, they are all done. Suppose you 
had as many boys as there are hills of corn 
in the field. If all went to work, the field 
would soon be clean. Combs infested with 
moth-webs, and even live worms, may be 
fixed up in a twinkling, in the same way. 
If you stand in front of the hive, you may 
have the satisfaction of seeing the worms 
led out by the nape of the neck ; to do this, 
you want a strong vigorous colony of Ital- 
ians. See Bee-moth. A new swarm will 
usually clean out a hive of bad combs in 
the same way; but if too bad they may 
swarm out. Better take them in the way I 
have mentioned. To be sure, it pays to save 
such combs. 103 

THE LOSSES DURING THE WINTER OF 

188u-'81. 
It is now July, 18S1, and the winter we 
have just passed through has been the most 
disastrous in the way of spring dwindling 
ever known, l'robably three-fourths of all 
the bees in the Northern States were lost, 
and a great part of them were in pretty 
fair condition until April, when a very severe 
spell of winter, with a temperature below 
zero, was the occasion of the greater part of 
the losses. Bees that were in good warm 
and dry cellars during this siege fared bet- 
ter ; but some very bad losses are reported, 
even with cellar wintering. While bees in 
the chaff hives suffered more than they ever 
have before, the testimony in favor of chaff 
hives over those unprotected has settled the 
matter of their superiority, beyond all ques- 
tion. At the same time, a great number of 
reports point strongly to the importance of 
more and better ventilation than we have 
been in the habit of giving. Hives where 
the section boxes were carelessly left on all 
winter have, in many cases, come through in 
good condition, while those closely packed 
with chaff cushions above have died. In 
our own apiary, we started into winter with 
about 140 colonies, and saved less than a 
dozen. It is proper to say, however, that 
few or none of these were really strong, first- 
class colonies. The young bees were shaken 
from the combs in the fall, and used to fill 
orders ; and our trade in queens also kept 
many of the colonies queenless when they 
should have been rearing brood to stand the 
winter. 



Thefollowing'is from the pen of Mr. Lang- 
stroth, in regard to the loss in my apiary, as 
given in Gleanings for July, 1S81 :— 

ON THE PROBABLE CAUSES OF THE LOSS OF OUR BEES 
LAST WINTEB. 

Your heavy losses in bees affect me painfully. 
While I admire your cheerful spirit under such se- 
vere reverses, I know that the failure to winter 
your bees is much harder to bear than the mere 
pecuniary loss. I speak from a vivid recollection of 
similar ^experiences. Before I discerned what pre- 
cautions were necessary for wintering bees success- 
fully in movable-frame hives, I more than once 
found myself in the spring in a plight almost as bad 
as your own. I can fully indorse your explanation 
of some of the reasons why your reverses have been 
so much greater than those of some large bee-keep- 
ers in your neighborhood. I often met with great 
losses when my apiary was managed chiefly for the 
sale of Italian queens. At the close of a poor honey 
season, my apiary often had many weak colonies. 
The temptation to winter every such stock which 
had a good queen was very great, as the demand at 
high prices for such queens in the spring was usual- 
ly greater than could be met. It was only the fact 
that my location was a poor one for honey, and that 
I could get large prices for nearly all the queens 
that I could raise, that at all justified my course. If 
in addition to the queen business, the selling of bees 
quite late in the season by the pound had been prac- 
ticed, the condition of my apiary after an unusually 
cold winter and late spring would probably have 
been very similar to that of your own. I give some 
comments on your replies to questions which I sent 
to you.* 

1. " Did you spread the combs further apart? " 

" I did not. Although recommended, so far as I 
know it has been mostly abandoned." 

Mr. Harrison, of Buffalo, first called attention to 
the importance of keeping the combs in which the 
bees cluster for winter some % of an inch further 
apart than the natural breeding distance. In the 
old box hives there are usually spaces in which bees 
can cluster in much larger numbers than in mova- 
ble frames properly space! for the working season. 
In the very cold winter of 1872-'3, 1 wintered in the 
open air in hives only % thick, until February ,t a 
number of stocks which were estimated not to have 
over two quarts of bees per hive. All the bees of a 
hive were placed between two combs full of honey, 
which were kept nearly three inches apart, and they 
formed a single cluster, shaped like a ball. If the 
combs of these stocks had been left in their summer 
position, no amount of chaff used in any fashion 
could have saved them. Mr. J. S. Hill, of Mount 
Healthy, Ohio, who wintered last season 112 stocks 
without losing one, and who has wintered on an av- 
erage 80 stocks a year since 1868, without the loss of 
one, spreads the combs. 

2. " Did you make winter passages in the combs'? " 
" Perhaps half of the combs have winter passages. 

I have never been satisfied that it made any materi- 
al difference." 

In this you differ from those who have had the 
best success in wintering bees. Mr. Hill, for in- 
stance, never neglects this point, and I am satisfied 



* Friend L. wrote, before writing this article, asking live 
questions. I answered briefly, and liis comments are on these 
questions.— Ed. 

+ Advised by the Signal Service that a cold wave more severe 
than any previous one was coming, the bees were removed into 
a cellar. 



WINTERING. 



WINTERING. 



that the power of passing: from comb to comb 
through the heart of the warm cluster, besides sav- 
ing the lives of many bees, greatly encourages early 
breeding. In the old box hive the holes around the 
cross-sticks for the support of the combs give the 
best of winter passages. 

3. " Did you place burlap or any other non-con- 
ductor of moisture over the frames?" 

" We used burlap, wood mats, and enameled sheets, 
but saw no difference in favor of either." 

Whatever the material used for confining the bees 
below, it should, as a matter of course, permit the 
ready escape of superfluous moisture. With weak 
stocks in very cold winters, this is a point of great 
importance. 

•I. "Did you give the bees a good space above the 
frames for clustering in?" 

"A part of them, perhaps nearly one-half, had an 
empty frame, or a frame of stores placed over the 
cluster. Our Holy-Land bees went into this upper 
chamber and starved, havingplenty of stores below." 

Reference to the back volumes of A. B. J. show 
that Bickford's quilt (afterward improved by you) is 
credited by him to the successful experiments which 
he witnessed in my apiary. 1 discarded the honey- 
board in wintering, using, instead, woolen rags, old 
carpets, etc., through which all superfluous moisture 
could pass, while sufficient animal heat was retain- 
ed, explaining at length that the principle was the 
same as using- suitable bed-covering to keep our- 
selves dry and warm in cold weather. I have always 
regarded the elucidation and application of this prin- 
ciple as a great advance in practical bee-keeping. 
The letters of Huber, published only a few years 
ago, show how much his bees suffered from damp- 
ness; and before I so fully expounded my ideas in 
the London Journal of Horticulture, our English 
friends found that they could not use wooden boxes 
with any satisfaction. My plans, as seen by Mr. 
Bickford, and very fully described in A.B.J., not 
only gave this free escape of moisture without too 
much loss of heat, but especially provided an ample 
warm space for the bees above the frames, so that 
the cluster could contract or expand at will. This 
saved the lives of many bees which, in very cold 
weather, even with the best winter passages, often 
failed to regain the central cluster, and died because 
they could not keep up the necessary heat. 

I believe that, even in such a winter as the past 
one, that with winter passages, combs properly 
spread apart, and a warm clustering space for the 
aforesaid purposes, bees could be better wintered in 
the open air in hives }& cf an inch thick, than with 
any amount of chaff above, around, or below them, 
where these precautions are ignored; for in sunny 
weather such thin hives will warm up so as [to dry 



out and allow the bees to reach their stores, while 
the chaff hives may remain cold and damp as a cel- 
lar. I will send you, in due season, an unpatented 
device used by Mr. Hill, for securing a warm nest 
above the clustered bees, which answers the end 
better than any one I have yet seen. Is there a man 
in all our northern country who can claim equal suc- 
cess with Mr. Hill in wintering bees? It hardly need 
be said that he is a pattern of skill, energy, and 
promptness. He has made his bees pay, in a region 
where I think it is ordinarily more difficult to secure 
one pound of surplus than two in the more favored 
northern localities. 

5. " Did you feed your bees for winter with a mix- 
ture of grape and cane sugar? " 
" Only a part of them, as I stated formerly." 
I think your losses were owing in part to your use 
of grape sugar, even although your candy contained 
but one part of it to three of best granulated cane 
sugar. It is not at all necessary that grape sugar 
should contain any impurities to make it a very haz- 
ardous food in such a winter and spring as we have 
just had. From its low sweetening power as com 
pared with honey or cane sugar, your bees which 
used it were forced to eat more than they other- 
wise would have done, and thus to suffer from a 

j greater accumulation of fjeces. You say, " Had our 
usual April weather come on, we should probably 
have saved about fifty colonies that we lest." Is it 
not highly probable that, with the weather just as it 

[ was, you might have saved many of those colonies, 

| if they had not been forced to succumb under the 
excess of faeces produced by the undigested starch 

| which so largely enters into the composition cf grape 
sugar? 

For the winter of 1881 and '82 we prepared 

I abont 200 colonies as Mr. L. directs, nsing 

the Hill device (see p. 294), and they came 

through almost without loss, but the winter 

was a much milder one than the preceding. 



It is now April 16, 1884, and we have, dur- 
| ing the past winter, carried 160 colonies 
through the winter, with a loss of only two. 
They were on natural stores, in chaff hives, 
Hill's device over the combs. The combs 
were spread more than we ever spread them 
[ before, many being fully two inches from 
center to center. We used a smaller number 
of combs in consequence, but these were fill- 
ed almost solid with sealed clover and bass- 
wood honey. 



SOME GENERAL CONCLUDING REMARKS. 



A ONE-HIVE APIARY. 

I have shown you a plan of an apiary for 7 hives, and over the leaf is one for 55 hives ; 
but before I close my ABC book I want to just give you a picture of an apiary of one 
hive. Now I think it will pay you to make every swarm of bees as you get them, just like 
this one ; or, at least, I would have you fix up each one just as nicely as you know how. 
The Bible says you must be faithful over a few things, before you can be made ruler over 
many, and in nothing is this more true than in the care of bees. 

It is for this reason that I would advise you to commence with a few stocks, and I would 
say commence with one, if it were not that there are some decided advantages in having 
two or more. If you are an entirely new beginner, and a young person, I would advise 
you to commence with just two hives, and to build up your apiary from just two. The 
bees will come if you are faithful, just as fast as you can take care of them. In fact, they 
will come from the woods and alight in or near your apiary, just as if they said in plain 
words," We want to be taken nice care of, just as your bees are. Here ! put us into one of 
those nice hives, and we will work for you." Some of you may be a little incredulous in 
regard to this; but scarcely a season has passed, that one or more swarms of bees have not 
come in just that way. I always give them a comb of honey and another of brood, and 
they go right to work with an energy that says very plainly, " We are going to do all we 
can, to build up the business." There is somehow a rare and keen pleasure in setting 
these vagrant swarms at work, and I can liken it to nothing else than pulling out a 
" whopping big fish," in my boyhood days when I went fishing. 

Now if you look back at apiary, you will see what I said about the grapevines for 
shade. Well, here is the grapeviue all grown up, and loaded with grapes ; the posts, pine 
strips, and the three wires, etc. 




TWO - STORY SIMPLICITY BEE - HIVE WITH PORTICO AND ALIGHTING - BOARD. 
QUEEN-REARING niYE, ETC 

After you have spread about a bushel of sawdust on the ground, you are to place the 
bottom-board on it, resting on four half-bricks. The bottom-board is to be placed the 
same side up as the cover. I am thus particular, because one friend informed me that his 



A HEXAGONAL APIAEY FOR FIFTY-FIVE HIVES. 

bottom-boards caught rainwater and drowned his bees ; he had turned them over, and 
had left an opening at the back, as well as front. Level up your hives and bottom-boards 
with a spirit-level. The upper story is used for surplus honey in the summer, and for 
holding a thick chaff cushion over the bees in winter. The little hive above, contains two 
or three frames only, and is used for queen-rearing. I think I would have the entrances 
face different directions, after the experience I have now had; for once in a while, a young 
queen will get into the hive below, attracted probably by the loud hum of the young bees, 
as they happen to be returning from a play-spell. I have known but one such occurrence, 
but I think it will be well to have the entrances to the small hives to the west, if we 
have all the large ones face the east, as we usually do. 

An apiary of 50 or 100 hives, all arranged like the above, is a pretty sight to behold, I as- 
sure you ; it adds to the beauty of it very much, in my eyes, to think that it is profitable, 
as well as pretty, for I can hardly understand how we could have a season so poor that 
such a well-kept apiary would not pay a handsome income. Our own, of about 75 hives, 
has, during the season of 1875, given us just about $1000 cash, for bees, queens, and honey, 
about half the amount was honey. About $100 was paid out for labor. 

■ " -■ m m m 



gEj 




Our Hexagonal Vineyard Apiary. 



We give you a diagram above, of our own apiary, vineyard and all. The square blocks 
are supposed to be the hives ; the lines on the south side of them, the grapevine trellises, 
for shade ; the building in the center, the honey-house. You will observe that we have a 
railroad leading to the nearest wagon-road ; the car that stands on this railway has its top 
on a level with the honey-house floor, thus greatly lessening the labor of loading honey for 
shipment, as well as getting our grape sugar for feeding during dry seasons. The car is 
simply a large shallow box turned upside down, with a post nailed securely into each cor- 
ner. The axles and wheels are iron, and can be purchased cheaply at almost any foundry. 
The track is 2x3 oak scantling. The ties are H inch oak nailed on the under side. The 
honey-house has doors at each end, to facilitate carrying in honey. It will be seen that the 
most remote hive is but 28 feet from one of the doors. The hives are 7 feet apart from 
center to center, and, after trying different distances, I am satisfied that 7 feet is room 
enough, and that more is not needed. 



LATEK REPORT IN REGARD TO HEXAGONAL APIARIES. 

May 17, 1879.-^In moving the bees to our new grounds, we rilled the central apiary in 
just the manner shown on the previous page. They were all in one-story hives; and to have 
them look nicely, we gave them all a fresh coat of paint. All were placed with the en- 
trance facing the east, just as they were in our old apiary. Now I shall have to explain 
that our old apiary has a building in the center, several trees scattered about (as you may re- 
member), a house-apiary, old strong grapevines, and a great variety of objects, that might 
give the bees landmarks. This one was on the clean, green lawn, and not an object was 
to be seen, but the hives and a single stake, to which the grapevine was trained. Well, 
what do you think? I expect I might have known what to think. If you stood in front of 
a hive, first you knew, all of its bees were going into the next one. A few hives that had 
no bees in them, had about as many bees around the entrance as the others. Bees heavily 
laden with pollen were running one way and the other, in front of hives, looking sadly 
puzzled because they could find no entrance, the entrances being closed up. Eour hives, 
containing good colonies, stood in a row ; a fifth one, an empty hive, was added; and 
almost before it was set down, a shower of yellow Italians, laden with pollen and honey, 
alighted, and commenced going in. You see they had marked their hive as the last in the 
row ; and when another was added, of course they piled into that. Although in some 
trouble, I was obliged to shout in merriment to see their astonishment, and I pitied them 
so much, they were given a frame of brood, and now they are a fair colony. I hereby give 
notice, that this is my invention for swarming bees automatically, and nobody shall 
patent it. Just think how simple ; set your new hive down, and the bees pile into it, 
almost before you get it leveled up. 

What did we do with the beautiful hexagonal apiary? I called Mr. Gray, who is'a genius 
for inventions, explained the trouble, and, in a twinkling, with the assistance of the en- 
graver, we had each hive so that the bees knew it, and so that you could lay a pin on any 
one of the 60 hives, and go to it at once. 

It was all fixed by turning the hives so that the entrances, instead of being all to the 
east, were turned to all points of the compass. Of course, we had it so that no two adjoin- 
ing were turned in the same direction. 

Suppose we take the north row of hives, and turn every other entrance west ; we shall 
now have two entrances facing each other, and two backs facing each other, clear through 
the row. Now take the next row, and turn one entrance south, the next north, and so On 
through. Turn the third row, one east, the next west, and so on, as we did the first row. 
Now the fourth row, one north, and the next south, and so on. It is an easy matter for 
both you and the bees to remember which way the entrance pointed, and as it is 14 feet in 
either direction before we come to another similarly situated, this brings the hive into 
another part of the apiary, or at least so far from any one like it, that there is little danger 
of confusion. The plan answers the purpose perfectly, and the apiary presents an orderly 
and systematic appearance to the eye. 

FIXING THE ENTRANCES. 

Our apiary is surrounded with evergreens as windbreaks ; but as these are not yet grown 
up, the location is much more windy than the old one, and the sawdust put around the 
alighting-boards was blown about so badly I was forced to think of something else. The 
handiest substance to keep down weeds and grass was coal cinders from the boiler room, 
but these were too dark colored, xls I have explained before, I want the space around the 
entrance so clean that I can see dead bees, should there be any robbing, or even a dead 
queen, should one be brought out. I can often tell when a queen is replaced, by having a 
clean space in front of the hive; for if I do not see the body of the old queen, I am pretty 
sure to see the immature young queens dragged from their cells. Well, after we got the 
coal cinders nicely stamped down, we pounded up some clean white sandstone, left after 
building, and made some nice white sand that we have spread over the cinders, making a 
dooryard that will not easily be troubled with grass and weeds, and that neither sun, rain, 
or wind will disturb or discolor. 

Well, to keep the grass down between the hives, we are now using a lawn-mower, with 
much satisfaction. By running it through the alleys, in the three different directions, it 
leaves the ground just beautiful. The doctor said I would better go to California and 
stay a year, but I much prefer to stay in the apiary and run the lawn-mower ; and if you 
could see me this morning— June 27th— I guess you would decide the lawn-mower would 
answer every purpose if "rightly applied," especially since I have got through writing 
this book. 



HOW TO COMMENCE BEE -KEEPING. 



Well, friends, here it is 1884; and after 
having sold about 15,000 of the ABC books, 
and having also received and read nearly as 
many letters from the A B C class, I have 
felt as though something like the following, 
which has already appeared in our Juve- 
nile, is needed just about here. Therefore 
we give you the following chapter, which is 
principally intended for those just beginning. 
The old hands in the business may read it 
if they want to. 

WHAT KIND OF AN OUTFIT IS REQUIRED 

FOR ONE HAVING, SAY, HALF A 

DOZEN HIVES? 

I have asked my friend W. B. House to an- 
swer the above question that was asked us 
by a friend, because he has had practical ex- 
perience right here : 

As an evidence of his ability to advise in- 
telligently ,we will remark that he, during the 
past season, with 12 colonies of bees (12 
strong and 2 weak swarms) increased to 
32 strong swarms, and took 3000 lbs. of sur- 
plus, nearly all of which was comb honey — 
an average of 214 lbs., and one new swarm 
per colony. 

Frtend Boot :— The only way to answer your ques- 
tion that I can see is to make an estimate of what 
we would advise for a person who has a half-dozen 
swarms. By this you will not only see what we 
recommend, but will have the prices opposite. Then 
if you order as we make estimate, you can return 
this to us. 
10 two-story Simplicity hives ((. c. 20 one-story 

hives) ® 43c $ 8 60 

This will include 10 bottoms and 10 covers, all 
in fiat, 
100 metal-cornered frames, pierced, with wire, 

etc., to hold fdn 4 00 

100 wide frames for sections in 2d story 3 00 

1000 sections, 4 1 ix4>4 5 00 

200 tin separators @ 1 J 4 c 3 50 

10 division-boards put tog-ether @ 10c 1 00 



15 lbs. fdn. for brood-frames @ 55c 

5 lbs. fdn. for sections 3%x3?i, thin worker, @ 

C5c 

1 honey-extractor, No. 5, for L. frames 

1 Novice honey-knife 

1 smoker, Clark's 

1 Clark's starter machine 

Easterday's fdn. fastener for wired frames 

10 sheets enameled cloth, tinned, @. 10c 

1 pair iron gauges for putting hives together. . 
7 lbs. 6d casing nails @ 6c 

1 B>. 4d casing nails 

2 lbs. 3 i-in. wire nails @ 20c 

1 B>. %-in wire nails 

1 fl>. 1-in. wire nails 



8 25 

3 25 

7 00 
70 
50 
50 
15 
1 00 
1 00 
42 
06 
40 

18 



Total $48 73 

We advise an extractor even for comb honey, in 
order that there may always be room in the brood- 
chamber. Even in this way it will very soon pay for 
itself. W. B. H. 

Medina, Ohio, March 28, 1883. 

Inasmuch as hardly any two bee-keepers 
agree in little details in regard to the man- 
agement, it is quite difficult to make an es- 
timate. For instance, a great many would 
prefer the H-story hive, with a case for sec- 
tions, instead of the upper story with wide 
frames, as Mr. House has figured it. The 
season, also, has much to do with it. Dur- 
ing a poor season, fifty dollars' outlay for 
half a dozen colonies would be very likely 
far more than needed ; but with such a flood 
of honey as our friends in the West have 
had for the past year, the above estimate 
might not be nearly enough. It will also be 
observed, that quite a part of the above or- 
der is for goods which, like the honey-ex- 
tractor, knife, etc., should last a bee-keeper 
a lifetime. Unless bees are sold, hives would 
also come under the above head ; and most 
that would be needed after the first start 
would be sections for honey, and hives, 
frames, etc., for increases in stock. 



BOOKS ON BEE CULTURE. 



I hardly know of a question that is asked oftener than the following : " I want a book 
on bee culture ; what one shall I buy V Which one is the best V I want one that is plain, 
and tells a beginner just what to do. Where can I get it ? " etc. 

I should like to tell you just which one would be best for you, my friend, but I can not 
well do so without knowing something of your habits. If you read little, and do not care 
for the reason why you are directed to do so and so, I might tell you to take one of the 
brief text-books, or manuals ; but if yOu want to know all about the matter, or at least all 
that has been discovered up to the present time, I might think it best to advise you to pur- 
chase quite a little library. It is almost impossible to learn all that is known in regard to 
bees from any single book. If a cyclopaedia were printed for that purpose, it would very 
soon have to be revised and enlarged, or it would not be up with the times. 

No book can well be a complete substitute for our Bee-Journals, not only for the reason 
given, but because one gets a better view of any science, by reading the experience of a 
great number of individuals. We are all liable to draw wrong conclusions, and to become 
set in our own way ; but by collecting and comparing facts from different authors, we, in a 
measure, steer clear of these mistakes, or errors of judgment. 

Again, one will take up bee-keeping solely for the money that is to be made, while an- 
other cares little for the profit, but wishes to make it a study. The book that would satis- 
fy one would not suit the other at all, although their line of work, much of it, lies in the 
same path. 

I know of nothing that has ever been written, equal to Langstroth on the Honey- Bee, for 
all general purposes, if the book were only up with the times. Many a beginner has heard 
it so highly spoken of that he has sent for it, expecting to find in it all needed information ; 
but finding that it contains no hint of the honey-extractor that has enabled us to get over 
500 lbs. to the colony in one season, nothing about the new comb foundation and section 
honey-boxes, besides much else that has been, for a few years past, stirring our Ameri- 
can people in regard to the place the honey-bee is now taking in our industries, he has laid 
it aside, feeling that he has been almost imposed upon. I have sold many copies, and it 
has been, too, with the fear that my patrons would, very likely, be disappointed in the way 
I have mentioned ; but then I reflected, if they should throw it down, they would be pretty 
sure to take it up again, and, by and by, would learn to feel as I do, that there is no other 
book equal to Langstroth after 'all, even if it is deficient in the respects I have named ; of 
almost every thing that comes up, we shall find something said in Langstroth. The book 
is pleasantly and beautifully written, and the number of mistakes in it is less than is usually 
found in a book treating any one subject so thoroughly. The amateur, the student, and 
the gentleman of leisure, can not afford to be without Langstroth, whatever may be the 
discoveries in the science in the future. Price by mail, post-paid, $2,00. 

The book that comes next to Langstroth, and in fact the only one that can stand beside 
it at all, in many respects, is Quinby 1 s Mysteries of Bee- Keeping. If one were intent on 
keeping bees solely for the money they would produce (and almost all of us take that view 
of the business to a greater or less degree) Quinby would be the man to follow, for he made 
his bees pay, and pay well, before movable frame hives were ever known. lie had, in fact, 
reduced bee-keeping to a paying business with a certain profit, with his plain, cheap box 
hives. > After reading his old edition over, I feel as if it would be rare fun, to keep bees in 
just such box hives now. Both of the above are very pleasant books to read, to one who is 
not a bee-keeper at all. Price by mail, postpaid, $1.50. 

Langstroth seems to have pursued his investigations with an enthusiastic love of get- 
ting at truth alone; and Quinby, with a desire of rendering the business less uncertain in a 
pecuniary point of view. While these two great writers started out, each without a 
knowledge of the other's work, it is greatly to the credit of both that they agree so nearly 
in all essential points. Since the above was written, Mr. L. C. Root, son-in-law of Mr. 
Quinby, has revised and almost entirely re-written Mr. Quinby's book, so that it is fully 
up to the present time, July, 1879. See Quinby Hive, in the glossary. The price remains 
the same as before, $1.50, postpaid. 

The Bee-Keeper's Text-Book, by H. A. King, has had a large sale, and lias done a vast 
amount of good. It is brief, and to the point, yet, like Langstroth and Quinby, was for 
many years much behind the times, until it was revised and enlarged in 1878. Price by 
mail, postpaid, $1.00; in paper covers, 75 c. 

In 1876, Prof. Cook gave us a little Manual at 30 cents, and in 1878 a revised and larger 
one, copiously illustrated, and fully up with the times; price $1.25. As entomology is 
friend Cook's specialty, he has given us great aid, in many matters almost untouched by 
any other writer. This is one of the advantages of consulting different books ; one author 
may be an expert in entomology, another in the mechanical part of hive-making, a third 
in botany, while still another may have been very successful m raising and marketing 
honey. Some writers, it is true, are quite proficient in all ; but almost every writer has 
some particular specialty, in which he excels. We can mail any of the above books on 
receipt of price. In 1888 a revised edition of the Manual was issued, containing additional 
matter to the amount of 50 pages and £0 illustrations. It is still sold at the old price. 

Every one who aspires to become a successful bee-keeper should lake one or more of 
our Bee-Journals. As sample copies will be furnished by the editors, I need not attempt 
to discuss their respective merits here. A sample copy of Gleanings, which we always 
mail on application, will give you the address and price, not only of any of the journals, 
but of whatever you may need in the apiary. 



GLOSSARY. 



tHOURES AT THE CLOSE OF A DEFINITION RT.FER TO PACES OF THIS BOOK. 



Abdomen of nee.- The terminal division of the in- 
sect, composed of a variable number of ring's. 

Absconding, or Abnormal Swarm. One that, from 
any unnatural cause, leaves its hive. 

Adair Hive.- See Hives. 

After-Swarms.— Those issuing after the first swarm. 

Alighting-Board.— A board in front of the entrance 
to a hive, on which the bees alight. 

American Hive.— Bee Hives. 

Apiarian.— One who keeps bees. Apiarist, prefera- 
ble. 

Apiarist.— See A)>i<tri<ni. 

Apiary.— A place where bees are kept. 

Apiculture. The culture of bees. 

Apis (Latin). The family to which b*>es belong-. 

Aphis, pi. Aphides.— A genus of plant-louse that 
emits a liquid sometimes gathered by bees, and 
called honey-dew. 

Artificial Comlt.— Comb Foundation. 

Artificial FertUtzaUon.— Impregnation of queens in 
confinement. 

Artificial Heat.— Warmth artificially produced, and 
applied to bees. 

Artificial Pasturage. Plants and trees cultivated for 
the honey they yield. 

Artificial PoUen.— Bye meal or other substances fed 
to bees as a substitute for natural pollen. 

Artificial Swarm.— A colony made by the division of 
one or more swarms. 

Bailing.— The manner in which bees cluster about a 
Strange queen, in attempting to sting- her. 

Bee-Bread. See Pollen. 

Bee-Climbers.— Apparatus to assist one in climbing- 
bee-trees. 

Bee Cxdture.— The care of bees. 

Bee-Dress.— A suit adapted to prevent stinging- by 
bees. 

Bee-Gum.— Term applied to that part of a tree or log 
which is, or has been, occupied by wild bees. Ap- 
plied, by our friends in the South, to all kinds of 
bee-hives. 

Bee Hive.— A box, or other receptacle, made by man, 
to be used as a home for the honey-bee, and usual- 
ly containing but one swarm. (Sec Bee-Gum and 
Skep.) 

Bee-House.— A house for bee-hives. Also applied to 
the rude sheds seen about the country, where one 
or more hives are crowded together. 

Bee-Bine.— The most direct route between two places. 

Bee-Moth.— A grey miller, % inch long, the larvae of 
which feed upon and destroy combs. 

Bee-Plants.— Plants which are valuable as honey-pro- 
ducers. 

Bees wax. — See Wax. 

Bee-Tree.— A tree occupied by a swarm of bees. 

Bell-Glass.— A bell shaped-glass much used in Eng- 
land for surplus honey. 

Black Bees. — A variety of the species Apis mettifica, 
whose color varies from dark brown to black. They 

are natives of Germany. 

Bottom-Board.— The floor of a hive. 

Box Hive.— See Hives. 

Box Honey.— Honey stored in boxes or sections. 

Brimstoning.— Fumigating with sulphur. See Fum- 
igate, and Taking- up Bees. 

Broad Frame.— A frame used for holding section 
boxes. ' 

Brood.— When applied to bee culture, larva3 in all 
stages. Not applied to bees after emerging from 
the cell, however young they may be. 

Brood-Comb.— Either worker or drone comb used for 
breeding; usually applied to worker-comb. 



Brood-Nest.— The space inside the hive, occupied by 
ejrgs and brood, extending in all directions from 
the center. 

Brood-Bearing.- Raising bees. 

BumbU-Bee, or Humble-Bee, a large noisy insect; a 
species of the genus Bomhvs. 

Candied Honey.— Honey that has solidified. 

Capped Brood.— See Sealed Brood. 

Capped Honey. — Honey in cells that are sealed with 
wax. 

Capptnasor Caps.— The covering of brood or honey 
in cells. 

Cell.— A hexagonal depository for honey, and apart- 
ment for brood-rearing, made by honey-bees, of 
wax; two sizes. See Honey-Comb, and Wax. 

Chaff Hive.— A hive having double walls filled with 
ehalt at all seasons. 

Chrysalis.— State of brood in transition from larvae to 
a fully developed bee. Termed, also, pupa and 
nymph. 

Closed find-Frame.— See Hives. 

Closed Top-Frame.— See Hives. 

Clustering.— Maimer in which numbers of bees cling 
together. 

Colony.— A stock or swarm of bees, consisting prin- 
cipally of worker-bees; but has, when perfect, one 
queen and an indefinite number of drones. 

Comb.— See Honev. 

Comh-Bashct.— A tin receptacle, with handles and a 
close-fitting cover, for containing combs, or carry- 
ing- them from place to place. 

Comb Foundation (Abbreviated, fdn.).— Thin sheets 
of wax, which have been passed between the two 
rollers of a fdh. machine, having the shape of the 
bottoms of cells, with their edges partially raised. 
An artificial foundation, or partition, upon which 
bees build comb. 

Comb - Foundation Machine.— A machine consisting 
principally of two metallic rollers engraved with 
such accuracy that thin sheets of wax passed be- 
tween them will have the form of the bottoms of 
cells. 

ComhHoldtr.— An apparatus which may be attached 
to the outside of a hive to hold a frame of comb. 

Comb Honey.— Honey which has not been removed 
from ihe comb. 

CombrQuide.— Generally a wooden edge, or a strip of 
comb, or fdn., in the top of a frame, or box, on 
which comb is to be built. 

Cushion.— A case or bag filled with some soft and 
porous substance, as chaff, for covering brood- 
frames on top or side. 

Cyprian Bee.— a native of the island of Cyprus, dif- 
fering- but little from the Italian. 

Davis' Transposition Process.— See. Grafted Cell. 

Decoy Hive.— One placed in position to attract ab- 
sconding swarms. 

D -aiding. —Separating a colony into two or more, by 
removal of combs or bees, or both. 

Division-Board.— A board, of the same length and 
height of the inside of hive, used for contracting 
the size of the apartment. 

Dollar Queen.— Fertile queen, that has been laying 
less than 21 days, and reared from a pure Italian 
mother. 

Drone.— A male bee, larger than the worker. Useful 
for nothing.cxcept filling the sexual office. 

Drone-Brood.— Brood in drone-cells (see Cell), from 
which drones are hatched. 

Drone- Egg.— One that is unimpregnated, laid by a 
virgin queen, or fertile queen, or fertile worker. 

Drumming Bees.— Driving from hive, by pounding 
on the outside. 



GLOSSARY. 



Dysentery. -A disastrous disease affecting bees in the 
spring; a diarrhoea. 

Dzierzon Theory (pronounced Tseert-sone).— The 
theory of Dzierzon, formulated into 13 proposi- 
tions, treating mainly of queens, their virginity, 
fecundation, and fertility. 

Embryo.— The first rudiments of existence of any 
plant or animal. 

Entrance.— An opening in the hive for the passage 
of bees. 

Entrance Blocks.— Three-cornered pieces of wood, 
for regulating the size of the entrance, 7. 

Egyptian Bee. — If it differs from the Italian, it is in 
being lighter colored and exceedingly cross. 

Extracted Honey.— Honey taken from the comb by 
means of an extractor. 

Extractor.— See Honey Extractor and Wax Extract- 
or. 

Fdn.— Abbreviation for comb foundation, 4V. 

Feeders.— Arrangements for feeding bees, 73. 

Fertile.— Productive, laying; as, fertile queen or 
worker. 

Fertle Worker.— A worker that lays eggs which pro- 
duce only drones, 78. See Worker. 

Fixed, Frame.— See Hives. 

Foul Brood.— A malignant, contagious disease, being 
a species of fungoid gr< > wth which affects brood, 80. 

Foundation.— See Comb Foundation. 

Frame.— A movable structure of slats, generally four 
cornered, in which bees build comb which may, 
by this device, be changed about inside, or re- 
moved from, the hive at pleasure. It was brought 
into use by Rev. L. L. Langstroth, in 1851. See 
cut and Hives. 

Fumigate— To expose to smoke; to apply the fumes 
of sulphur. 

Gallup Hive.— See Hives. 

Glucose.— See grape sugar. 

Granulated Honey. -Honey that has formed into 
grains, in passing from a viscous to a candied 

state. 

Grape Sugar.— A saccharine substance less sweet 
and less soluble than cane sugar,, made principally 
from Indian corn; is called Grape Sugar because 
it is identical with the sugar found in grapes. It 
is often confounded with glucose, with which it is 
nearly identical but glucose contains more dex- 
trine than grape sugar, which renders it a perma- 
nent liquid, grape sugar being a permanent solid. 
Both substances are well known in commerce, and 
while glucose may, by chemical means, be convert- 
ed into grape sugar, grape sugar cannot, by anv 
means known at present, be converted into glu- 
cose. The sweet principle of both substances is 
known under the general term of grape sugar, to 
distinguish it from cane sugar, and as the manu- 
facture of these articles, as an important industry, 
is of rather recent date, our dictionaries and cy- 
clopaedias, so far as I can learn, have failed to 
make any distinction between the two. As the 
sweet principle of honey is grape sugar, these sub- 
stances, when made pure, are a more natural food 
for the honey bee than cane sugar. 

Green Honey.— See Unripe Honey. 

Guide Comb.— Pieces of comb used as guides for 
building combs in brood frames or surplus boxes. 

Hatching Brood.— Brood just emerging from the 
cells. 

Honey.- The nectar gathered by bees from flowers, 
and brought to a viscous state, by evaporation in- 
side the hive, after being deposited in the cells. 

Honey Bag, or Honey Sack.— An enlargement of 
the gullet or first stomach, in which the bee car- 
ries the nectar gathered from flowers. 

Honey-Bee.— An insect of the species Apis Mellifica. 

Honey Board.— A board formerly used on top of 
frames, containing holes or slots over which were 
placed surplus boxes; now but little used. 

Honey Box.— A receptacle for surplus honey, closed 
on all sides, but with entrance holes for bees. 
Mostly discarded now for the section boxes. 

Honey Comb.— A sheet of hexagonal cells, the same 
on both sides, having a middle wall or partition. 
When new, weighs M lb. per sq. ft., requiring for 
its production about 5 lbs. of honey. Brood combs 
are % in. thick ; but, owing to the shape of the 
bottoms, each cell has a depth a little greater than 
half the thickness of the comb. Combs of this 
thickness will hold 3 lbs. of honey per sq. ft. ; but 
the cells may be lengthened to the capacity of 10 
lbs. per sq. ft. Worker comb contains 35 cells per 
sq. in., on each side; drone comb, 16 cells per sq. 
in., on each side: cells of both are of the same 
depth. Sides and bottoms of cells are, when new, 



1-180 in. thick. The bottom of each cell is forme<1 
of 3 rhombs, so unite 1 as to make the center <>f 
each cell the lowest p irt, which point is the center 
of three cells on the opposite side. The bottom nf 
each cell thus forms a fourth part of a rhombic 
dodecahedron, and a third part of the. bottom of 
each of the three opposite cells. Honey comb is 
made by the honey bee, from scales of wax. See 
Wax. 
Honey Dew.— See p. 114. 

Honey Extractor.— A very ingenious contrivance by 
which centrifugal force is made to throw the 
honey from frames or pieces of undipped comb. 
Hemey Gate.— A cast iron fixture, for drawing off 

honey from extractors, barrels, &-c. 
Honey House.— A building used for storing honey, 
combs, hives, and apiarian implemenls; ahn for 
extracting honey and doing other work pertaining 
to the apiary. 
Honey Knife.— A thin, double edged, steel blade, 
with inclined handle, used for uncapping honey 
for the extractor. 

Hives.— I have not thought best to describe the dif- 
ferent kinds of hives in the main part of my book, 
lest I should confuse the beginner by details that 
I cannot think at all important to his success. I 
have thought best to give a brief description here of 
the hives in use, that our readers may be able to 
converse in r,egard to them understandingly, when 
occasion requires. Of course, none but movable 
comb hives are worthy of consideration nowadays, 
and as the frame is the principal part of any hive, 1 
will make a diagram of the principal sizes and di- 
mensions in use as below. 

DIAGRAM OF PRINCIPAL FRAMES IN USK. 

Figures given are outside dimensions in inches. 
Suspended frames have % inch suppoiting arms, or 
an equal prolongation of top bar. 




AUAIK. 









12 






AmkkicanT 






11 > 4 ' 






Gallup. S 




1!!!b 


Closkp km> Quinrv. — 



GLOSSARY 



QUINBY SUSPENDED FRAME, AND HIVE. 

The first 5 are what are called suspended frames, 
because they are supported or suspended rather, by 
elongations of the top bar, or other equivalent de- 
vices. Mr. Langstroth has the credit of inventing 
this form of movable frame; but, as this, like al- 
most every other invention, seems to have been the 
joint work of a great many individuals, it is likely 
that to him rather belongs the credit of first bring- 
ing it practically before the public. Mr. Quinby 
made the frame figured at the top of the list, after 
seeing Mr. Langstroth's book, in 1856. If I am cor- 
rect, he chose those dimensions that he might have 
a hive just about a foot square and a foot and a half 
long inside. Judging from his experience with box 
hives, he doubtless thought these would be about the 
right dimensions. It is quite a misfortune to the 
bee-keeping world at large, that he did not adopt the 
exact size given in Mr. L's book, especially when 
he came so near it. I believe one reason he gives 
for choosing a size a little larger was that he could 
thus use only 8 frames, where Langstroth used 10. 
This is quite an important advantage, it is true; but, 
as a great many bee keepers who use the Q. frame 
(including among their number Mr. L. C. Root, who 
has just (July, 1879) revised Mr. Quinby's book) have 
reduced the size of the Quinby frame to about that 
of the L. frame, I think we may safely call the 
frame as given by Mr. Q. rather large. Again; Mr. 
L., in deciding on the dimensions of the frame he 
has given us, contemplated its being used in a two 
story hive, which, I believe, Mr. Q. did not: this 
would readily account for the extra depth Mr. Q. 
gave. The Q. hive for this frame was simply a box 
a foot square inside, and 18 inches long, as 1 have 
before mentioned. The entrance was, I think, an 
auger hole, and the honey was taken from boxes 
placed on the top, much in the same way as from the 
box hives which Mr. Q. had been recommending. 

THE LANGSTROTH FRAME AND HIVE. 

1 have given above, and under the head nucleus, 
the principle reasons for the dimensions of this 
frame. Other reasons being equal, the fact that 
there are more of this dimension of frames in use. 
than of all others combined, should have some weight 
in deciding what frame and hive to use. Nunc but 
one who has gone through the matter by actual ex- 
perience can estimate the difficulties and annoyan- 
ces caused by having hives and frames of different 
dimensions in the same apiary, or even in the same 
neighborhood. There will always be more or less 
buying and selling of hives, bees, &c , and where the 
hives and contents are all made from one exact and 
fixed gauge, there is little trouble; but where there 
is even a slight variation— even the fourth of an 
inch, it makes troubles innumerable. It is on this 
account, I would most earnestly plead with you to 
adopt the regular L. frame, if you can come any- 
where near to it. While 10 frames are the standard 
number for a single story, there are those who use 
more, as well as those who use less. Adam Grim 
and others who have made quite a business of sell- 
ing bees, have adopted 8 framed hives; and, as such 
a hive of bees was sold at about the usual price, 
there was, of course, a saving to the one who sold 
them. As these narrow hives cannot be used inter- 
changeably, on or beneath the standard size, I would 
not advise them. We have now a lot piled up a- 
gainst the fence, just because they are too narrow to 
be worked with the rest. For the same reasons, and 
on account of getting boards wide enough for such 
covers, I would also object to hives containing more 
than 10 frames; if more room is wanted, put on an 
extra story. I have objected to the old style L. hive, 
such as Mr. L. gave us, principally because the up- 
per story was made to fit over the lower one, and 
could not therefore be used of itself independently, 
as a one story hive. It also required much waste 
lumber, to allow of frames of one size being used in 
both stories. Compared with the Simplicity, they 
are heavy to handle, expensive to make, c< mplicated 
and bulky when they are to be stored away or ship- 
ped, and yet their inside dimensions are, after all, 
no greater. 

ADAIR FRAME AND niVE. 

Ever since Mr. L. gave us the dimensiens of the 
frame he preferred, those who have had less experi- 
ence than be had haAe been insistirg that the frame 
is too shallow, and advising other dimensions. The 
frame which 1 have called the Adair was not recom- 
mended by Mr. A. specially for Ihis reason, but be- 
cause he thought it mere suitable for the peculiar 
hive he so strenuously advised about the year 1872. 



This hive, which, I suppose, should be termed the 
Adair hive more because he brought it so promi- 
nently before the public than because the idea was 
of his own originating, was termed by him the "New 
Idea Hive" ; said idea being to arrange the frames in 
one long row, rather than to have an upper story, or 
any kind of a surplus receptacle above the brood 
nest. Such great things were claimed for this hive, 
that it was tried all over the country, and hives 
were made to contain not only 20 and 25 frames, but 
Adair even claimed he could get a queen to rear 
such a swarm of bees that a hive four fectlong would 
be needed to give them room; and I presume hun- 
dreds, if not thousands, of such hives were made 
and used. Like other similar inventions, they were 
said to be a success, and some there were who even 
went so far, as to stock their whole apiaries with 
such hives. Like other things again, and I hardly 
know why, the bees, in a couple of years, were taken 
out of these long hives, and they were put away out 
back of the barn, or somewhere else, and that was 
the last of them. At present writing, July 7th, 1879, 
I know (if lint two bee keepers who use them, and 
they do not use them anything like four feet long. 

Before closing the subject of what has been called, 
in pleasantry, the "long idea hive," it maybe well to 
state that an unscrupulous vender of patent hives, 
N. C. Mitchell, by name, about the time every body 
had dropped this "long idea" as a mistake, com- 
menced to introduce it to country people, as his 
patent hive, claiming it as his own invention, and 
that the most wonderful things could be achieved 
by its use. At the same time, he claimed to have a 
patent also, on all division boards for hives, and has 
been, for the past tour years, blackmailing innocent 
farmers, by threatening them with prosecution, un- 
less they hand him over $10. for the right to use, etc. 
Where they used neither the long hive nor division 
board, he claimed also to have a patent on a simple 
cloth cover, or any kind of a quilt, placed over the 
frames, and thus obtained, and, I fear, is yet obtain- 
ing, considerable sums of money. When the matter 
is sifted down, it U found that this Mitchell has a 
patent only on an iron lug to be applied to a division 
beard, which is so impracticable that neither he nor 
any one else has ever made use of it; a fair sample 
of the way patents on bee hives turn out when in- 
vestigated. 

THE AMERICAN HIVE AND FRAME. 

The hive known throughout the country as the 
American hive was invented by H. A. King, about 
the year 1865. Mr. K., it seemsi considered the L. 
frame too shallow, and sought to make a tall hive 
like the box hives in common use, having movable 
frames like the L. hive. While a shallow frame may 
be lifted out at the top of the hive very readily, it is 
much more difficult to use a frame a foot deep or 
more, in the same way. To obviate this, he made 
the hive with a movable side. A great many hives 
were sold, and it was very extensively introduced, 
perha ps more so than any other patent hive that has 
ever had an existence. 1 believe the decision has 
been pretty general, however, that the movable side 
is a very undesirable feature, as well as the tall 
frame it was designed to accommodate, and the hive 
has been either discarded or so much modified that 
none of the patented features are left. The frame 
was, originally about V2V 2 wide, by 16 or more inches 
deep, but after the long Adair hives came in vogue, 
or about that time, it was char ged to a frame exact- 
ly a foot square outside. This was a gain, in getting 
it into a regular size, but the American hives scat- 
tered about the country contain frames of such a 
diversity of dimensions, that the term American 
frame or hive scarcely means anything. Keducing 
the depth to 12 inches was a great improvement, but 
even that is too deep for a two story hive, and most 
hives, since the advent of fdn., are used two stories 
high or more. 

THE GALLUP FRAME AND HIVE. 

This frame was first brought prominently bofore 
the public, by Llisha Gallup. He used so small a 
frame, because of the facility it gave for building 
up small colonies or nuclei. The hive he recom- 
mended was, at first, about 13 inches long, holding 12 
such frames. It is the frame used and advised by 
Prof. Cook, G. M. Doolittle, and many others, and 
there are those who claim that better results can be 
secured by it than by any other of the larger frames. 
It is possible that this is the case in the hands of one 
long used to this frame, but 1 think the masses gen- 
erally will succeed just as well with the L. frame. 
It is objectionable, because it is too deep to be used 



GLOSSAEY 



to good advantage in a two story hive, and the ad- 
vantages of having both upper and lower story ex- 
actly alike are too great to be lightly ignored. It is 
also objectionable, because there are more frames to 
be handled, to accomplish a certain amount of work. 
At one time, friend Gallup used two rows of these 
frames side by side, and named it the "twin" hive. 
These, like the Adair long hive, were considerably 
used, and some large results obtained from them, 
but they are now, I believe, laid aside again, for the 
old two story plan of gi\ ing more room, and getting 
surplus. 

CLOSED END QUINBY FHAME AND HIVE. 

Ever since Langstroth brought out the movable 
frame, there have been, every now and then, indi- 
viduals advocating having the frames at fixed and 
regular distances, that the bees may be obliged to 
build their combs of exact thickness. 1 do not know 
what may be accomplished with the aid of fdn., but, 
at present, the majority agree that combs as they 
are usually found, are better handled without being 
fastened at fixed and regular distances. The Amer- 
ican frame, as it was made originally, had the top 
bar very nearly IV2 inches wide; as this is the dis- 
tance which brood combs should be from center to 
center, of course, the top bars came close together 
in this case, closing the space and forming a honey 
board or chamber floor, and making what is called 
the closed top frames. To be sure, there are some 
very decided advantages in such arrangements; 
such as, having the frames solid and substantially 
held when hives are to be moved, doing away w ith a 
honey board, etc. But, alas, the frames are not 
"movable," and although thousands of such hives 
were introduced and sold, nearly all of them were 
soon laid aside. The L. arrangement seems to be 
the only one that stands the test of years of service. 
Well now, the yuinby hive of which I am about to 
speak is not a closed top frame, but it is a closed end 
frame. One great objection to the closed top Amer- 
ican frame was, that it killed so many bees. Well 
our friend, Quinby, made a very long frame, and 
got the end bars so far away from the centre where 
the bees are generally found, that they would be far 
less likely to be in the way, when the frames were 
being closed up in place. It will be remembered 
that, in this frame, it is the ends that are made iy 2 
inches wide, instead of the top bar. That they may 
not fall over too easily, a hook of hoop iron is nailed 
to one of the lower corners, which hooks on a strip 
of similar hoop iron nailed to the bott >m board. It 
will be noticed that this closed end frame, Quinby 
hive is the simplest form of a movnble frame that 
can well be devised. For a summer hive, 6 frames, 
with a p>ur of panels to close each of the outside 
ones and some simple board for a cover, is all that is 
needed. Of cotuse, the whole must be placed on 
some kind of a Hat board forabottom board. If you 
wish a smaller hive, take out one or more frames 
and close in the panel; if larger, put in frames as 
long as they may be needed. The troublesome di- 
vision board, in all suspended frame hives, is here 
dispensed with entirely. To be sure, the same idea 
can be applied to any of the frames mentioned; but 
with tall frames it is more troublesome, because you 
have the closed end bars nearer the bees, and there 
is a greater surface to be gummed fast, every time 
the hive is opened and closed. In fact, there is no 
standard size of Quinby frame, if I am correctly in- 
formed. Quinby's neighbors who use them, includ- 
ing his son-in-law, Mr. L. C. Root, and Capt. Hether- 
ington, who, it is said, has over a thousand hives, all 
use different sized frames. 

Why is not this frame and hive more in use ? Be- 
cause it places the combs at fixed distances, which 
will remain a great objection so long as the bees will 
persist in building combs of such irregular thick- 
nesses. If you think this can easily be got along 
with, take two heavily filled combs, with bulged cells 
along the top bars, and try to make them come up 
together. With suspended frames, this can easily 
be got along with. Also, try to close up a hive made 
of so many loose pieces, and try to do it quickly, 
without killing bees. In short, try using such hives 
in the apiary a year or two, by the side of suspended 
frame hives. I know there is a man found, once in 
a while, (yes and I know one woman, too, a very suc- 
cessful one, Mrs. Axtell. of Roseville, 111.), who will 
give the preference to a closed end frame; but there 
are so few, in proportion to those who prefer the 
other kind, that I have thought best not to try to 
describe the hive in full, in my book. There are 
several who have used the hive a few years, and then, 
at great expense, have had the combs all transferred 



into suspended frames. If any of you think you 
would like to adopt such a hive, I would advise you 
to purchase L. C. Root's excellent book, entitled 
'■Quinby's New Bee-keeping." 

1 have said nothing in regard to surplus arrange- 
ments for these various hives, for those described in 
this book can all be adapted to them. Where a 
frame is very deep, the sections should be placed at 
the side, as well as above the brood nest, and are 
then termed Side Storing Boxes. As a general 
thing, it seems to be well decided that the hives with 
shallow frames give far the most surplus. This 
brings us to the subject of extremely shallow hives. 

BINGHAM'S HIVE. 

Mr. T. F. Bingham of Otsego, Mich., has used a 
hive, and I believe is using it still, with frames only 
6 inches in depth. While such extreme limits may 
be used, and successfully, too, especially by those 
advocating them, they will, as a general thing, be 
found inconvenient by the masses. Very tall 
frames, very shallow frames, very large and very 
small frames, triangular frames, five sided frames, 
and, in short, almost every imaginable kind of 
frames have been used and patented. Yes, many of 
them have been tried aud abandoned over and over 
again. Of late, it seems that a great many of them 
have been patented over and over again; for patent 
hives have got to be such a legion, it is not at all 
strange that the patent office officials should fail to 
be able to tell what has, and what has not, been pat- 
ented. 1 would not discourage inventive genius, but 
I would caution our A B C class about traveling the 
same path over again so many times, not knowing 
that the ground has been thoroughly worked over 
before. As a general rule, I think the most igno- 
rant class of bee keepers we have are those owning 
patents on hives. 

House Apiary. -A double walled building usually of 
octagonal or rectangular form, in which bees are 
kept both summer and winter in separate hives as 
out of doors. 
Hybrid.— A cross between two species. In bee cul- 
ture, applied to a cross between blacks and Ital- 
ians. 
Hymettus.—A country of Greece, famed for the su- 
perior quality of its honey, which is of light golden 
color, and gathered from mountain thyme. 
Italian or Ligurian Bee.— A native of Italy, distin- 
guished by three bands of yellow across the upper 
part of the abdomen of the worker bee. 
Italianizing.— Changing from any other species of 

bees to the Italian, 122. 
Introducing.— Method of presenting a strange queen 

to a colony of bees, so that they will accept her. 
Lamp Nursery.— A device used in rearing queens; 
a double walled tin hive, with space between filled 
with water kept warm by means of a lamp, 125. 
Langstroth Hive. —See Hives. 

Larva (pi. Larvce).— The bee in the grub state, from 
the time of the hatching of the egg until the cap- 
ping of the cell; in other words, unsealed brood. 
L. Frame.— Langstroth frame (See Hives). 
L. Hive.— Langstroth hive (See Hives). 
Ligurian Bees.— See Italian Bees. 
Lining Bees.— Noting the direction of their flight. 
Mandibles.— Jaws of the bee, which work sidewise 
instead of up and down as in higher animals. - 
Cook. 
Manipulation.— Handling of bees. 
Mat.— A covering for brood frames to be used under 
the cushion, quilt, or sheet to keep them free from 
propolis, or they may be used alone, made of 
wooden strips, woven with cord. 
Miie.riraetor.— Honey Extractor. 
Metal Corners.— Tin Fixtures for securing corners 
of frames and forming on the upper bar an 
edged support, which can not be made fast by 
propolis, and under which no moth worm can se- 
crete itself. 
Mitchell Hive.— See Hives. 
Movable Frame. —See Hives. 

Natural Swarm.— A s-varm which issues spontane- 
ously. 
Nectaries.— The lower part of the petals of flowers 

where nectar is secreted. 
Neuter.— See Worker Bee. 

Non Swarming Hire.— One so large, or so construct- 
ed, as to control the desire to swarm, an end never 
yet. satisfactorily obtained. 
Nucleus (pi. Nuclei or Nucleuses).— A miniature col- 
ony of bees, generally used for rearing queens. 
Should have a queen or means of rearing one. 
Nurse Bees.— Bees that care for brood: generally , 
those less than two weeks old. 



GLOSSARY. 



Nursery.— A place in which queens are reared. See 
Lamp Nursery. 

Nymph.— See Chrysalis. 

Obseroatory Hive.— A hive constructed partially of 
glass, to allow examination of work inside without 
disturbing bees. 

Overstocking.— Having more bees in one locality 
than there is pasturage to support. 

Parafflne. —A white, translucent, crystalline sub- 
stance, tasteless and inodorous, obtained from the 
distillation of mineral and vegetable tar. It re- 
sembles spermaceti. It derives its name from its 
remarkable resistance to chemical action. — Web- 
ster. It is sometimes used as a substitute for bees- 
wax, for coating barrels and other utensils for 
containing honey. 

Parasite.— A species of lice that live on the body of 
a bee, 63. 

Parent Stock.— A stock from which a swarm issues. 

Parthenogenesis (or Virgin Breeding.)— The law that 
life is imparted by the mother independently, and 
that every egg, as originally developed in the ova- 
ries, is of the male sex, but whenever fertilized it 
becomes transformed into a female. 

Pollen.— Fecundating dust of the antheral part of 
the stamen of flowers, gathered by bees, and when 
mixed with honey used for food of young bees, 
sometimes called bee-bread. 

Pollen Basket.— A slight cavity on the outside, just 
above the second joint, of each of the two hind 
legs, in which the pollen is carried, 137. 

Propolis.— A resinous substance gathered, probably, 
from the buds of certain trees, by bees, and used 
in covering rough places, and cementing and fill- 
ing cracks about the hive. 

Pupa.— See Chrysalis. 

<J. Fro me. -Quinby frame. 

Q. Hive.— Quinby hive. 

Queen.— The only fully developed female in the col- 
ony; the mother of all the rest. 

Qui i n ( 'age.— An enclosure of wire cloth, or of wire 
cloth and wood, in which to confine a queen for in- 
troduction or shipping, 38. 

(jitnn fills. Elongated cells, in which queens are 
reared. 

< Jin i ning.— Introducing a queen to a colony. 

Queenleas.- -Having no queen. 

Qucoi Hearing. Kaising queens, 159. 

Quern Register.— A printed card so arranged as to 
show at all times the condition of the queen in the 
hive, on which it is tacked. 

Queen's Voice.— A note frequently uttered by a 
queen, probably produced by her wings. 

Quilt.— A cover for brood frames made by putting 
wool or cotton between two pieces of cloth, and 
sewing them together. 

Qitinhy Frame.— See Hives. 

Quinby Hive.— See Hives. 

Rabbet.— Lately applied to a strip of folded tin, to 
be used in any hive where frames arc suspended 
by the top bar, either with or without metal cor- 
ners, to aid in making frames more movable, and 
to assist in keeping bees free from the ravages of 
the bee moth. 

Rendering Wax.— Separating the wax from all for- 
eign substances by melting and straining. Usually 
applied to the operation of converting combs into 
wax. 

Rhomb.— An equilateral parallelogram, having two 
acute and two obtuse angles; one of the 12 equal 
sides of a rhombic dodecahedron; one of the loz- 
enge shaped parts of the bottom of a cell, 110. 

Rhombic Dodeealiedron.—A solid having 12 rhomb 
shaped faces, 110. 

Ripe Honey.— That which has by evaporation be- 
come sufficiently thick to be sealed in the cell. 

Robbing.— The act of pilfering stores from another 
hive, instead of obtaining them in the ordinary 
way from the fields. It occurs only in time of 
scarcity of stores, 165. 

Royal Cell.— See. Queen Cells. 

Royal Jelly.— Food of queen larvae, 149. 

Sealed Brood.— Bee Capped Brood. 

Sealed Honey.— See Capped Honey. 



Section Box or Section.- -A small box for surplus 
honey, open on two sides. 

Separator.— A strip or piece, generally of tin, placed 
between two section boxes, to insure straight comb. 

Sheet.— A covering of single cloth, for brood frames. 

Skep.—A term sometimes applied to any sort of a 
bee hive. 

Spent Queen.— One that from old age becomes in- 
competent to lay any eggs, or but few which pro- 
duce drones only. 

Spermatozoid (pi. Spermatozoa).— One of the Ani- 
malcula contained in the generative fluid of drones. 

Spring Dwindling.— Slow decrease in size of stocks, 
in early spring, 241. 

Starter.— Comb or f dn. fastened in the top of sur- 
plus boxes, to induce work therein. 

Sting.— A weapon of defense, contained in the pos- 
terior part of the abdomen of worker bees and 
queens, composed of 3 parts, two of which are 
barbed, 192. 

Stock.— See Colony. 

Super.— Any receptacle for surplus comb honey, ap- 
plied by our friends across the water to any kind 
of upper story. 

Swarm.— A large number of bees leaving the parent 
stock at one time, for the purpose of taking up 
new lodgings, accompanied by one queen in the 
first swarm, and in after swarms (see Colonies) by 
one or more. 

Swarming Season.— The time of year in which bees 
are most inclined to swarm. 

Taking up Bees.— Killing bees in fall, to get the 
honey. A practice now going rapidly out of use. 

Tested Queen.— One whose progeny has been exam- 
ined and found pure, 160. 

TrcDisferring.— Changing bees and combs from one 
hive to another; changing comb from one frame 
to another. Usually applied to the operation of 
changing bees and combs from box hives to hives 
with movable frames. 

Transjinsition Process.— See Grafted Cell. 

Unqueening. — Removing queen from a colony. 

Cnriiie or Green Honey.— Honey which has under- 
gone but little change by evaporation, and con- 
tained in unsealed cells. 

Virgin Queen A queen which has not been fertil- 
ized. 

Wax.— A natural, unctious, secretion of honey bees, 
formed in delicate scales, in the eight wax pock- 
ets, on the under side of the abdor.en. It is 
formed both in activity and in repose, but in much 
larger quantities while the bees are quietly clus- 
tered inside the hive. The production of each 
pound requires about 20 lbs. of honey. It is used 
by the bees for comb building, 222. 

Wax Extractor.— An apparatus by means of which 
wax is rendered by application of steam. 

Wax Pockets.— The 8 depositories under the rings 
on the under side of tne 
abdomen of a worker bee, 
in which wax scales are 
secreted. 
Wax Press.— A device for 
rendering melted wax by 
pressure. 
Wedding Flight,— The flight 
of a virgin queen, for the 
wax pockets. purpose of meeting a 

drone. 

Wild Bees.— A term applied to honey bees, that live 
in the forest, in hollow trees, or in cavities of 
rocks, or in other places away from the abodes of 
men. 

Wind Breaks.— Tight fences or close hedges, to keep 
winds from the apiary. 

Worker Bee.— Erroneously called neuter; an unde- 
veloped female possessing the germ of nearly 
every organ of the queen, which may at any time 
become sufficiently developed to allow her to lay 
eggs, but only such eggs as produce drones. Does 
all the work in the hive except laying eggs. 

Worker Egg.— An egg which is impregnated, and is 
laid only by a fertile queen: will produce either 
worker or queen. 




DOOLITTLE'S REVIEW AND COMMENTS 
ON THE ABC BOOK. 



In 1880 I offered friend Doolittle $100.00 for 
a careful going-over of the ABC book, that 
he might point out its faults, and add such 
suggestions as his large experience might 
dictate. lie has done this ; and Ins remarks 
are of so much value that we have added 
them here. Where obvious errors were point- 
ed out, of course nothing remained but to cor- 
rect them, and so these points need not be 
given here. In some cases I have answered 
his objections, and in some I have not; in 
the latter, it will be understood that he holds 
one view, and I another. 



ABSCONDING SWARMS. 

CLIPPING QUEENS' WINGS. 

Scarcely a queen need be lost, as a few bees will 
always gather around the queen; and by walking 
over the yard, and looking on the ground, this ball 
of bees is easily seen, and the queen picked up. It 
is not so easy, however, always to tell where they 
came from; but this can be done by keeping them 
till near night, and taking the queen from the bees, 
■when they will return home to their own hives. 

Very good indeed! The idea of letting 
stray bees find their own hive is a new one 
—to me, at least. 



SAVING AFTER-SWARMS, AND BUILDING THEM UP TO 
GOOD COLONIES. 

T can not agree here. With the after-swarms goes 
all prospect of surplus honey; and, if prevented, the 
old stock is by far the better. Wait T 1 ^ days after 
the first swarm leaves, and, as a rule, the first young 
queen is hatched then. Cut all cells, and after- 
swarms are done away with. 



PLURALITY OP QUEENS IN A SWARM. 

I find that a plurality of queens is just as common 
in second savarms as in third; and I have had as 
many as half a dozen in a first swarm, issuing from 
the loss of the old queen ten or more days previous- 
ly. During the height of swarming, the ceils are 
not properly guarded, and thus the young queens 
run out. 



CUTTING OUT CELLS, AFTER A FIRST SWARM 

This is not sure, as the bees can rear more from 
the brood remaining; but, cut them after the first 
queen hatches, and you have a sure thing. 



SETTING THE NEW SWARM IN THE PLACE OF THE OLD 
STOCK, TO PREVENT AFTER-SWARMS. 

This is not a good plan with the Italians, as they 
will nearly always swarm after being thus moved; 
but with lhf> blacks it generally works well. 

6 

AGE OF BEES. 

HOW LONG BUCK BEES WILL LIVE, IP AN ITALIAN 
QUEEN IS GIVEN THE BEES IN MAY OR JUNE. 

They will live 45 days, from three experiments I 
have tried. 

7 

ANGER OF BEES. 
Have you not made a mistake here somewhere? 
During a heavy jiel 1 of honey, our bees seem to be 
glad of a rest, and it takes at least 24 hours before 
our bees think of robbing, after a full flow of honey. 
We have taken off honey after a shower, as you 
speak of, when each bee was so full of honey that, if 
squeezed a little, she would throw the honey out on 
the tongue; and, if jammed a little, the honey-sack 
(filled with honey) would burst through the sides of 
1 the abdomen. After 34 hours has elapsed, or the 
season draws to a close, we agree with all you say. 

I hardly think I have made a mistake in 

| the matter, friend D.; but, very likely, more 

time had elapsed after the rain, than what I 

I have given. I have noticed all you say, im- 

: mediately after a very heavy yield ; but so 

many others have spoken of having trouble 

in trying to extract, after a storm, that I can 

not but think my caution a wise one. 

8 

I thoroughly tried Prof. Hasbrouck's plan the past 
season with the sugar-barrel with a hole in the top 
and a glass on the inside. While I could get the 
drones and queens to fly together and drop to the 
bottom in the embrace, or laying-hold of each other, 
yet not one was fertilized. 

In regard to this same subject of artificial 
fertilization,! remark that now, nearly every 
apiarist of 50 hives or more, has at least one 
imported queen. In regard to this remark, 
friend D. writes: — 

9 

I can not agree here. I have had three daughters 
of imported queens from as many breeders, and 
none of them compared with the stock I had taken 
pains to breed for honey. W r ith the majority of 
apiarists, probably, your remarks are correct; but 
we have a few breeders whose queens are far ahead 
of a promiscuous importation from Italy,— at least. 



DOOLITTLES REVIEW AND COMMENTS ON THE ABC BOOK. 



Such is my opinion. Five hundred dollars would not 
hire me to breed all my queens from an imported 
mother, nnd tot my present stock go down. 

If belter honey-gatherers can be obtained 
by goine: elsewhere rather than Italy, by all 
means let us have them. As friend D. now 
offers queens for sale, we can give his stock 
a very thorough test the coming season 
10 

ARTIFICIAL SWARMING. 

HOW TO REAR QUEENS. 

The first-hatched queen will destroy all remaining 
queen-cells, providing it is not in the height of a 
How of honey. If it is, our experience is, they will 
swarm instead. For my views on this, see A. D. J. 
for Oct., 1880— Doolittle's article. 

The reference to the article on queen-rear- 
ing is, I presume,' m regard to friend D.'s 
position that queens reared under the swarm- 
ing impulse, are better than those reared in 
the manner I have given. If this were the 
case, should not apiaries managed on the 
natural-swarming principle, produce superi- 
or queens? There are plenty who have fol- 
lowed the latter plan all their lives, but I do 
not learn they have more honey to sell, than 
those who have made their swarms and 
reared their queens according to the meth- 
ods I have given. It seems to me, friend D. 
and our good friend Prof. Cook too have 
been a little thoughtless in their condemna- 
tion of all queens sold for a dollar, as if they 
were necessarily inferior on that account- 
especially after the great numbers of great 
yields that have been reported from the prog- 
eny of queens that were purchased for a dol- 
lar, and in the hands of ABC scholars at 
that, but it is possible that those reared from 
natural swarming will be better yet, other 
things being the same ; and let us by all 
means give the matter a fair test. If friend 
D. can supply the demand for such, even at 
$3.00 each, we shall very soon have plenty of 
reports from them. 

11 

BASS WOOD. 
In a period of 12 years, I have never known bass- 
wood to fail to yield honey,— the very shortest sea- 
son yielding 4 days, and the longest 20. 1 place bass- 
wood at the head of all honey-producing trees or 
plants as to yield. From it I once obtained 66 lbs. in 
3 davs, from one hive. 

12 

This is a picture of which you may well be proud; 
for a better picture to convey to the mind just what 
basswood is, was never executed. 

13 

I obtained s xty-aix lbs. in three days. 

14 

BEES. 

BEEP, HOW THEY GROW. 

You do not mention water as being mixed with 
the honey and pollen for food. If water is not mixed 



with this food, why is it so eagerly sought in spring 
and summer, and not at all in warm days in October 
and November? Now, I claim that many things 
point to water being one element in this ford. 

15 

BUCKWHEAT. 

We have given up placing any dependence on 

buckwheat for honey. It has yielded honey only ft 

times in 12 years, so that any was stored. See our 

report fcr 1880. 

16 

CANDIED HONEY. 

SEALED COMB nONEf IN A CANDIED STATE. 

Sealed honey seldom candies in the hive as you 
say; but I never, to my recollection, had sealed hon- 
ey away from the bees over winter without its can- 
dying. 

17 

SCALDING. 

How about changing the flavor as soon as honey is 
scalded? Our experience is, that honey that has 
been heated hot enough to scald is spoiled, or near- 
ly so, in flavor. 

It can be heated so as to prevent candying, 
without in any way detracting from the fla- 
vor, I think, friend D. 

18 

CLOVER. 

RED CLOVER FOR HONEY. 

If I understand you correctly here, you and I do 
not agree at all. I never pulled the blossoms from a 
head of red clover yet, but that there was honey in 
them. But I have frequently found the corolla so 
long the bee could not touch the honey, I think 
there is nothing in the world that secretes as much 
honey, year after year, as red clover; still, it is of 
little use except to the bumble-bee. 

In our locality, the red clover certainly 
contains no honey, perceptibly, some sea- 
sons. I am always in the habit of plucking 
the heads and sucking out the nectar, when- 
ever I find them in bloom ; and whenever 
I can squeeze out quite large globules, I al- 
ways, so far as I can recollect, find the bees 
gathering honey. 

19 

TAKING SECTIONS OFF THE HIVES, BEFORE THE 
CELTS ARE ALL CAPPED. 

Quinby said, and with much truth, too, that all 
boxes two-thirds full of white honey should be taken 
off before buckwheat honey was stored in them at 
the beginning: of that yield, as part ly filled boxes of 
white honey would bring; more than when finished 
out with dark honey. If you will adopt* he plan of 
storing it in a warm room for a month, all your ad- 
vice will not be needed, as in that case unsealed 
honey will not heat or run in the least. 

20 

DANDELION. 

This blossoms just with fruit with us, and so is of 
little account, except the little they get before and 
after, at beginning and ending. 

Dandelion honey, after it is a year or two old, is 
just splendid. 



DOOLITTLE'S KEVIEW AND COMMENTS ON THE ABC BOOK. 



21 

DISEASES OF BEES. 
Can't you manage to tell us why bees did not 
spring-dwindle prior to 1870? When I first com- 
menced to keep bees, there were 100 swarms around 
me, kept by four or five parties that had kept bees 
for 30 and 40 years; and, although they kept on 
using box hives, still not one of them has a bee to- 
day. Tell us what did it. I confess I can't see 
through it at all. 

To come right down to the point, I can't 
either, friend D., even after all the learned 
and exhaustive articles we have had on the 
subject. Once they lived almost without 
care, and now they don't. 
.22 

DRONES. 

AGE OF DRONES. 

Fultz, of Muscatine, Iowa, sayp, in A. B.J. for 
January, 1880, that drones live only 24 days, while I 
claim they live to about Ihe same age as a worker, if 
the bees allow them to live that long. 

23 

EXTRACTED HONEY. 
doolittle's artificial honey. 
Take and make a syrup of A sugar, of the consist- 
ency of honey; then for every 5 lbs. of this syrup, 
put in 3 lbs. of clover or basswood honey, and thor- 
oughly mix, and there is nut one in twenty but will 
prefer it to clear honey, and not one in ten that can 
detect it by the taste. 

24 

RIPENIKG EXTRACTED HONEY. 

I am just one of those persons who have proven 
to their entire satisfaction, that there is no differ- 
ence between honey extracted before it is sealed 
and ripened in an open cask or can in a warm room, 
and that sealed by the bees, and ripened in the hive. 

25 

EXTRACTING UNRIPE HONEY. 

I think your honey, when first gathered, mnst be 
very poor stuff, or tlse you are carrying this thing 
too far. We have tiered up hives, as you tell, and 
left till October, then used in the comb, and extract- 
ed it by warming the combs so we could, and for the 
life of me I could see no difference between this and 
some I warmed that was taken before it was sealed. 
Both were so thick you could turn a saucer over, as 
you tell, and not have it run out, and so clear you 
could read through it six inches deep. Just tell your 
readers to extract when they will, but ripen in open 
cans in a warm room. 

26 

DADANT'S HONEY-PAILS. 

Candied honey in Dadant's pails is seLing well in 
all the markets we have tried, and it is by far the 
nicest way to put it up. 

27 

Don't say tin cans are "next best," but say, ihe 
way to keep honey is in tin cans holding 300 lbs., in a 
warm dry room, with a cover made of your duck 
cloth. If you want to sell it in that shape, fill the 
Dadant pails just before it ceases to run, and set 
them away. 

28 

With tall hivos there will not be 10 lbs. below if 



you keep extracted from the upper story, at least 
this is our experience. 

It is to be remembered that friend D. uses 
the Gallup frame while my remarks are all 
for the L. frame. 

29 

FEEDING AND FEEDERS. 

FEEDING BACK. 

Haven't you changed your mind on this feeding 
back? I have again tried it this season, only at a 
loss, as I have to feed 2 lbs. to get one in the boxes. 
Betsinger and my neighbors succeeded no better. 

I agree with you that such is the case ex- 
actly until the brood apartment is crammed; 
but after that, there are not more losses than 
I have mentioned. 

30 

THICKENING WATERY HONEY. 

If this is so, how came your thin honey from bass- 
wood you told us about a little while before on these 
pages? Why did they not thicken this in the same 
way? I still believe all evaporating of nectar is done 
in the hive, as I once wrote. 

I should explain it thus: The basswood 
yielded in such quantities that they carried 
it right to the hives. The Simpson plant 
furnished only a limited amount compar- 
atively. 

31 

FOUL BROOD. 
If you don't give them any comb, they don't want 
any confining, as I repeatedly found in 1871, '2, and 
'3. A new swarm from a diseased hive, hived in an 
empty hive, will never have the disease, unless they 
get honey after the larvte has hatched from a hive 
that has the foul brood; so your " starving part " 
should be left out. I ought to know, as I renovated 
my whole apiary in 1873. 

32 

FRUIT-BLOSSOMS. 
Betsinger says, and I agree, that if we had the 
same number of bees in a hive in apple-bloom that 
we do in basswood, the yield would be as great. I 
once had 8 lbs. stored in one day, with not over one- 
third the bees I have in basswood. Apple is a great 
yielder of honey, sure. 

Then we have a most excellent reason for 
having powerful colonies to commence the 
sea on with. 

33 

HIVE-MAKING. 

A good colony of bees will store almost as 
muck honey in a half-barrel or nail-keg, as in. 
the most elaborate and expensive hive made 
other thinas beina equal. 

If I am correct, it was E. Gallup who sakl Ihis; E. 
Gallup certainly said it, and Quinby may have done 
so; but 1 do not remember that he did. 

34 

How "• it, friend Boot, that when you write a book 
you give only a description of your hive? When L. 
C. Root writes a book he gives a description of the 
Quinby hive only. Has not Prof. Cook set you both 
a good example by giving several, and then giving 
bis reasons for adopting the one be uses? As you 



D00L1TTLES REVIEW AND COMMENTS ON THE ABC BOOK. 



know, I do not agree with you on hives, and think 
yon are prejudiced on many points; but I have gone 
over the ground so much in the bee journals, that I 
will not say more here, except to say that, if I used 
the L. frame, I certainly should use side boxes as 
well as top; and as I took out the full ones on top, 
raise th^> partly filled ones from the sides to the top, 
placing the empty boxes at the side each time. This 
is the principle to secure a large yield of box honey, 
and we think we have proven it to you by our re- 
ports the past eight years. Still, you do not even 
mention the matter, but drive ahead as if yours was 
the only way. riease excuse, but so it seems to me. 
I know you consider the interchangeable side and 
top boxes complicated; but can't we well afford it, 
if from 5 to ]0 lbs. extra can be secured from each 
stock each year thereby? 

I know, friend D.,that this matter of hives 
is a very important one, but if Quinby and 
Gallup were right, as in a few sentences 
back, does it really matter so very much? I 
have described minutely how to make both 
summer and winter hives for the L. frame ; 
but if anybody prefers any other sized frame, 
they can vary the directions to suit, without 
any great difficulty. I have not described 
the hive preferred by yourself, Prof. Cook, 
L. C. Root, Dadant, Harbison, and many 
others, because it would make the book too 
voluminous for one thing, and because I 
could not give directions for each operation 
all the way through, without modifying all 
the time, to suit the different hives. Be- 
sides, I should perplex and confuse the be- 
ginner beyond measure if I tried to do so. 
Even though Prof. Cook uses your sized 
frame, he uses a differently made hive ; and, 
if I am correct, you would hardly agree with 
his directions any more than you do mine. 
Friend Cook gives a general idea of the 
whole subject, without going into minute 
details as I have, and his book in this respect 
tills a need that many of the others do not. 
In deciding to have my whole book written 
principally for the L. frame, I did it with 
the belief that you would do nearly if not 
quite as well with that frame as with your 
own, and also that by far the greater 
part of our bee folks had that frame already 
in use. To advise everybody to throw away 
the hives they have, and adopt another, 
would be a most serious matter, and I have 
not intended so to do in any thing I have 
written ; but I would advise all new begin- 
ners to fall into the great beaten path as far 
as may be, in deciding upon implements to 
be used. I feel now as I did at first, that it 
is best not to confuse beginners by attempt- 
ing to describe more than one frame, and 
the summer and winter hives for holding 
this one frame. I indorse your idea in re- 
gard to raising up the side boxes. Under 



COMB* honey I have given full directions 
for using the sections at the sides as well as 
above the brood frames. 
35 

THE 1-LB. SECTION BOX. 

Would it not have been well to have told yom 
readers that Manum, of Bristol, Vt., made a section 
that was nicer than any thing could be that was 
planed, and that, too, with nothing but a saw, and 
that it held l%lbs.? that Betsinger made prize boxes 
that were very nice ttiat held 2J4 lbs. glassed? lhat 
Hetherington. the largest bee-keeper in i he world, 
used a box still different that Thorn & Co., and Thur- 
ber & O. pronounced the best for New York market 
of any thing there was used? flow should I know of 
any thing but 1-pound boxes if I did not read it else- 
where (rutside of this book? Many can not afford to 
buy several books, and so want to be posted by read- 
ing one. 

I have described but the one section, for 
the same reason 1 have described but one 
hive. I do not wish to confuse my reader 
and leave him in a broad sea of uncertainty 
as to what style he had best adopt. Should 
he choose the hive I have described, and 
then try to use some of the other forms of 
sections, without experience, he would be 
likely to have the same troubles so many of 
us have gone through with in patching up 
and trying to make system out of chaos. 
Harbison produces more comb honey than 
any you have mentioned, and he uses still 
another box ; but I have not described it. I 
have once given a letter from Thurber, say- 
ing the 1-lb. section sold the best of any in 
the market; but he may have given differ- 
ent opinions at other times Hundreds who 
had no knowledge of bee culture at all, have, 
by following the plan and direct teachings 
of the ABC, succeeded at once, rejoicing at 
every step ; but had I taken in all these 
other points (and I grant they are important), 
I can have no idea that such would have 
been the cage. As it is, every implement, 
box, frame, and tool, fits exactly with all 
there is in the book. Had I described and 
advised the things used by others (even 
though they are better, mind you), such 
could not have been the case. 
36 

HONEY-COMB. 

BEES PACKING IN THE COMB COMPACTLY. 

Betsinger says that the bees never pack them- 
selves in the cells except in cases of starvation. I 
am not posted, so can not say from my own ex- 
perience. 

As I have often pulled combs apart in win- 
ter, and found them thus, I can not quite 
agree with friend B. 

37 



Now, really, friend Root, do you think bees build 



DOC-LITTLE'S ItEVIEW AND COMMENTS ON THE ABC BOOK. 



comb any differently than they did when the great 
Creator pronounced all his woi'ks good? That there 
is a difference in the qualities of bees, I know; and 
so I believe there was then. If God knows the be- 
ginning from the end, he knows just what is wanted, 
and so makes it good. We have no reason to believe 
that there has been much improvement made, as a 
whole, since the creation, if any thing; for wherein 
one point is gained, another is lost; for instance, 
man has perhaps a better intellect to-day than he 
had 3000 years ago, but he does not live a tenth part 
as long. So with our choice breeds of cattle, sheep, 
etc.; the more choice they are, the more petting it 
takes to keep them up, while the lean, uncouth 
"scalawag" will live and thrive anywhere. 

38 

MAKING BEES USE LA.RGER CELLS. 

We tried to so improve the bee as to make them 
take cells i l A to the inch, but we had to give it up, 
and believe God knew best when he taught them 
that five is right. 

39 

HYBRIDS. 

WHY DO HYBRID QUEENS BRING ONLY M PRICE OF 
ITALIANS? 

Just because anybody and everybody can raise 
plenty of hybrids themselves, if they have an Italian 
to start with; but if they have a queen producing 
hybrid workers, they soon have nothing but blacks 

40 

BLACKS ARE MORE TROUBLESOME ROBBERS THAN 
EITHER HYBRIDS OR ITALIANS. 

I have had pure Italians that were ordinarily quiet 
and peaceable get so roused up as to sting worse 
than any hybrid ever thought of stinging. 

41 

You are just right here; and still we have those 
who claim the Italian is superior to the blacks, only 
as they rob others. I have been so annoyed by these 
black chaps following me around, as to get fairly 
nervous. 

42 

INTRODUCING QUEENS. 

FINDING THE OLD QUEEN. 

would say, draw one of the outside brood combs, 
for the queen is of tener found on the outside brood 
combs during the day than she is on the central one. 

43 

THE "PEET-CAGE" PLAN OF INTRODUCING.* 

I have succeeded to my entire satisfaction the past 
summer in introducing queens by making a cage as 
you used to, to cage queen-cells ; and make it so it is 
4 inches square; find a place where the bees are 
hatching- out rapidly, and place your queen thereon, 
after getting all the bees off; then place your cage 
over the queen, and press into the comb. Of course, 
you must have some cells of honey inside the cage 
too. As the bees hatch, they become attached to 
the queen, and she commences to la5 r in the vacant 
cells, and in from 24 to 48 hours she will fill them all, 
and these young bees will protect her after you have 
lifted the cage from off her and them. 

44 

ITALIAN BEES. 

IS FRESHLY IMPORTED STOCK BETTER AS HONEY- 
GATHERERS? 

Can't "swallow" that yet; and I candidly believe 
further importation is useless for the next five years. 



45 

THE FOURTH YELLOW BAND. 

I have had those on which the fourth was just as 
visible on the honey-scale as it usually is on the 
third, and that while they were on the window. 

I have also seen them during the past year 
— especially on the Cyprian and Holy-Land 
bees. 

46 

LAMP NURSERIES. 
Are not your queens weak and feeble if hatched in 
the lamp nursery? Mine were so much so that, after 
using it two years, I laid it to one side, and have not 
used it since. Queens hatching over a swarm of 
bees in a wire-cloth cage seem to be as strong again. 

I have not found it so, friend D. See 
HayhursCs letter at close of subject queen- 

REARTNG. 

47 

LETTING NEWLY - HATCHED QUEENS INTO A HLVE 
WHEN A LAYING ONE HAS JUST BEEN TAKEN OUT. 

Out of 20 so let in the past season, I lost all but 

one, and had nearly as bad success before; so I 

should say, if I were writing 1 a book, that, as a rule, 

all so let in would be killed. 

48 



A good argument in favor of my theory in ripen- 
ing extracted honey, and also of keeping box honey 
till it is so thick it will not leak from unsealed cells. 
We have faith enough to believe that, if you were to 
once store your box honey in a room that maintains 
a temperature of 90° for three weeks, you would 
never ship it as it came from the hives. 
49 

MOTHERWORT AS A HONEY-PLANT. 
As I said at the Chicago convention, so 1 say now: 
if I were to cultivate any plant for honey, it would 
be Motherwort; for our bees work on it from morn- 
ing till night for weeks. 

50 

MOVING BEES. 

HOW FAR DO BEES FLY FOR STORES? 

You know we don't agree here, as I claim they go 
from 3 to 6 miles from choice. My bees went 4 to 5 
miles to work on teasel the past year, without any 
teasels within 3i4 miles on the first part of the route. 
This I know, as a bee working on teasel is always 
partly covered with a whitish dust, as they are with 
yellow when working on pumpkin and squash. 

Thanks ; very likely I have put the dis- 
tance too small.* 

51 

NUCLEUS. 

HOW FEW BEES, WITH A QUEEN, MAY START A COLONY. 

We once had a colony become so reduced that, by 
actual count, there were 81 bees and the queen, and 
so they held on till warm weather, when they built 
up without help, and actually gave a surplus of 5 lbs. 
on buckwheat, in sections, and were in splendid con- 
dition for winter. 

52 

IS THE GALLUP FRAME TOO DEEP? 

I don't see how you can call the Gallup frame 
deep, when it is only two inches deeper than the L. 
frame. If you had said the old American or Kidder 



"An article.' in April Xo. of (Ii.kanings for ISS'2, shows conclu- 
sively that Italian bees willlly from ; i i i island, under favora- 
ble circumstances, as much as even seven" miles. 



DOOLITTLE'S REVIEW AND COMMENTS ON THE ABC BOOK. 



that were 14 inches, I could have agreed. The Gal- 
lup frame is the best proportioned frame of any, all 
things considered. So think I 

53 

DOES THE BOTTOM PROJECT BELOW THE CLUSTER? 

No more than the ends do, for it is exactly square. 
A good swarm of bees in the Gallup frame will 
touch the bottom and top of the hive, and also each 
end where only 9 frames are used, but not the sides; 
while with the L. frame they touch the bottom and 
top only. 

Why, friend D., it seems to me our hees 
don't act just as yours do, but perhaps we 
are both a little prejudiced. 
54 

NUCLEUS. 

How is it that you have only seven frames in this 
hive, when you say you use ten in the chapter on 
hives? 

We usually use bvtG or 7 brood frames; 
in winter, chaff division-boards take the 
place of the other three, and in summer, a 
frame of sections on each, outside. 

55 

POLLEN. 

BASSWOOD YIELDS NO POLLEN. 

If I am correct, basswood yields no pollen at all. 
56 

BEES ON CULTIVATED-GRAPE BLOSSOMS. 

Did you ever see a bee on a tame grape blossom? 
Although they get pollen freely from the wild, or 
frost grape, yet I never saw one on a tame variety. 

Yes, sir! they work on our Concords nearly 
every season. 

57 

DO BEES SEE OR SMELL HONEV? 

Above, you give that the bees And honey by see- 
ing the blossoms, etc.; but did they go into the hon- 
ey-house by seeing the bowls and boxes of honey 
there? I think not, and guess you have got off the 
track. It can be easily proven, that bees are drawn 
toward honey by the perfume, for you can place it 
where they can see it all day, and yet yield no per- 
fume, and not a bee will notice it. 

58 

DO BEES OR PLANTS CHANGE THEIR HABITS, UNDER 
DIFFERENT CIRCUMSTANCES OR SURROUNDINGS? 

Is not this figurative language? The touch-me- 
not is probably just as it was when it was first created; 
if not, God did not know the necessities of flowers 
when he created them. That a flower has "learn- 
ed" how and where to place certain organs to accom- 
plish desired ends is a little strange talk, is it not? 

59 

POLLEN AND BROOD IN THE SURPLUS BOXES. 

I find it right the opposite. I never had any brood 
in the side boxes but once in my experience, that I 
know of, but often have it in top boxes. 

60 

PROPOLIS. 

PROPOLIS FROM BALM OF GILEAD AND POPLAR. 

I have repeatedly seen bees getting propolis from 
balm-of-Gilead and poplar buds, and a few at work 
on the horse-chestnut; but this is so sticky they do 
not like it so well. 



61 

QUEENS. 

DOES THE QUEEN OR WORKERS DESTROY RIVAL 

QUEEN-CELLS? 

As far as my experience goes on this point, the 
workers do this destroying of the cells. I know 
queens do tear open cells, but believe the workt rs do 
most of it when the id^a of swarming is not enter- 
tained. 

62 

PIPING OF QUEENS. 

I guess no piping is ever heard in a hive till one 
queen has hatched; at least, 1 never could bear any, 
audi have experimented quite thoroughly on this 
point. 

63 

WHAT DO BEES FEED THE QUEEN TO MAKE HER LAV? 

What is this food that the bees feed 1 he queen ? I 
claim it is the same as that fed to the young larvae. 
When the queen takes honey, she helps herself to it. 

64 

AT WHAT AGE DO QUEENS COMMENCE TO LAY? 

I once had a queen laying in just ten days from 
the time the cell was sealed over, or three days after 
the queen had hatched, and at another time I had 
one that did not lay till £6 days from the sealing of 
the cell. 

65 

QUEEN-REARING. 

EEN-CELLS AT THE TIH 
IS MADE. 

I have tried this plan till I know that my bees des- 
troy at least nine-tenths of all cells so given, and do 
not understand why yours do not. With my experi- 
ence, I should not put such a plan in a book, if I 
were to write one, but would say, wait 24 hours. 

66 

KEEPING THE BEES OF THE NUCLEUS FROM GOING 
BACK HOME. 

I should say that this one would get half the bees 
that were in the old hive; at least, when I make 
nuclei in that way the bees s p em bent on going back 
to the old stand; so I generally confine them for the 
first day, letting them out toward sunset by the 
second day. 

67 

INSERTING A CELL IN PLACE OF ONE THE BEES 
HAVE BUILT. 

That is correct; and I say, wait till they commence 
to build cells, and you are safe. 

68 

ROBBING. 

WHAT TO DO WHEN A COLONY CEASES TO DEFFND 
ITSELF. 

I cover the hive all up with a large sheet, and then 
there is no chance of smothering; and, also, the 
robbers are not confined to the hive. 

69 

A ROBBED COLONY GOING HOME WITH THE ROBBERS. 

Did anybody ever know the bees from a robbed 
hive to go home with the robbers? I never knew 
such a thing to happen, and doubt its ever occurring. 

I have had a few cases of the kind, and 
several have been reported. Perhaps, friend 
D., you do not have the experience^ V) in rob- 
bing we do. 



DOOLITTLE'S EEVIEVV AND COMMENTS ON THE A 13 C BOOK. 



70 

DO BEES DISLIKE SNAKES? 

I had plenty of snakes live under my hives the 
past summer, and the idea that bees dislike snakes 
is all bosh. 

71 

SMOKERS. 

SMOKE FOR YELLOW-JACKETS. 

Smoke will drive yellow-jackets and bumbL'-bers 
much quicker than it will bees, so they will leave 
their nests entirely — the yellow-jackets rarely re- 
turning-, but the bumble-bees will return. 

72 

STINGS. 

HOW DOOLITTLE MANAGES IN REGARD TO STINGS. 

This is the way I always remove them; and if you 
learn by instinct, as it were, to strike your hand 
against your clothing at the moment you feel the 
strike to sting, you will, in nearly all cases, remove 
the whole sting, and suffer scarcely any pain. I 
always wear a veil, as I don't want them in my face 
if they did not sting at all. 

73 

VISITORS STANDING IN FRONT OP THE HIVES. 

This is the worit trial I have, and I sometimes feel 
like telling such persons that it seems as if they 
should "know something;" but instead, I request 
them to come back where I am, only to repeat it 
when I open the next hive, and s ) on. 

74 

KILLING BEES IN HANDLING HIVES. 

I think you make more of killing bees than is call- 
ed for. When a bee's life is worth more to me than 
my time is, I take much pains to preventkilling one; 
but. on the contrary, if my time is worth more than 
the life of a bee, the bee is killed, always striving to 
kill as few as possible consistent with accomplishing 
what is to be accomplished. We kerp hres for the 
profit there is in them, and that is what tbey were 
created for— the benefit of man. Do you object? Let 
us see: you keep a cow for the profit there is in the 
milk and butter she affords you to eat or sell; but 
when she gets old, so as to be of no value for milk 
or butter, do you keep her for the good she has done? 
No: you look to the profit again, and fat and kill 
her, and, as you reason, God should hold you re- 
sponsible for this act. Why not? Because he has 
created the cow for the benefit of man, as he did the 
bees; so when a bee's death is more profitable to me 
than his life, there is no more harm in killing him 
than there is in killing the cow. 

75 

USING SMOKE IN OPENING HIVES. 

I always blow a lit tie smoke under the quilt as I raise 
it, and after that use no more unless they show signs 
of stinging. In this way no time is wasted to have 
them off from the tops of the frames out of the way. 
Any colony can be subdued by blowing in a little 
smoke at the entrance, and closing it, and then rap 
on the hive a few times. In two or three minutes 
you can dD any thing with them. 

76 

SWARMING. 

NON-SWARMING HIVES. 

Why not say bees swarm because it is God's plan 
to keep them from becoming extinct, as much as it 
is his plan for the birds to return to us each spring, 
mate, and raise their young? With an apartment 



that is suited to the bees for all seasonp of the year, 
that is not enlarged or contracted by man, the bees 
invariably swarm if the season is propitious, and all 
the combined ideas of man have not as yet been 
sufficient to produce a non-swarming hive when 
worked forcomb honey, that was reliable. 

77 

DO BEES WORK LESS THE DAY THEY ARE GOING TO 
SWARM? 

I never c >uld see a bit of difference as to the work 
of a swarm, and I have witched closely to see, when 
I knew a swarm hud a sealed queen-uell. 

78 

BEES SWARMING BF.CAUSK TFTEY HEAR OTHER HIVES 
SWARMING. 

No mistake, as far as my experience goes. 

79 

FIRST SWARMS ISSUINO TWICR ON THE SAME DAY. 

I never knew but one first swarm to issue the 
second time on the same diy— a returned swarm, [ 
mean. 

80 



Both El wood and Hetherington now take away the 
queen from lheir stocks at work in boxes during the 
basswoodblojm, and claim that is the correct way 
to get box honey with no swarms. 1 do not yet agree, 
but may some time. 

81 

EXTRACTING THE HONEY TO PIIEVENT SWARMING. 

1 don't agree; your extracting reduces them, for 
the time being, to a state of poverty, the same as a 
dearth of forage; hence, all idea of swarming is 
given up the same as it is when the flowers yield no 
honey, on the principle that God has given them 
knowledge enough to know that they can't prosper 
outside of the oil hive without a yield of honey. * 

82 

TEASEL. 

I have never known it to fail but one year during 
the past eleven years, the time I have kept beis. 

These road-side teasels are wild teasels, on which I 
never saw a bee in my life. These have a blue blos- 
som, while the tame, or Fuller's teasel, have a white. 

83 

TRANSFERRING. 

DRUMMING THE BEES OUT, IN TRANSFERRING. 

Why don't you drum out those bees to start with, 
and have them out of the way? 
Because I like the way I have given, best. 
84 

DOOLITTLE'S NATUR\L COMBS, VERSUS THOSE BUILT 
ON FDN. 

I have 1000 that I would not trade with you even 
handed at venture, for they are perfection. 

If you had to buy your fdn., I think you would 
save all the comb you could. 

85 

The drumming is done by petting off the side of 
the old hive, and getting the nails out of the cross- 
sticks so no time is wasted. 

86 

UNITING BEES. 
Alternate the frames, and thus mix the bees 
thoroughly, and they will never figtt at any time of 
the year. 

21 



DOOLITTLE'S REVIEW AND COMMENTS ON THE ABC BOOK. 



But they do sometimes, friend D., with us, 
nevertheless. I wish you would try uniting 
Cyprians in that way. 
87 

LOSING QUEENS WHEN UNITING BEES. 

I never lost one in my life. 

88 

WHEN TO UNITE BEES. 

I don't agree. August is the time to unite bees, as 
I gave in A. B. J., Oct. No. The first part of Sept. 
would do, where fall flowers are abundant. 

It is far easier to unite bees in the brood form in 
August than in the bee form in October, for the 
brood the last of August are the bees of October. 

89 

VEILS. 
I use the grenadine for the whole veil, and wear 
one most of the time. 

90 

USING SHEETS OF MICA IN BEE-VEILS. 

The mica does very well in hot weather, but in cool 
the breath steams it up so it is entirely useless. 

91 

VENTILATION 



You are just '•shouting" here, and ihis is one 
great secret of success in getting box honey. 

92 

VINEGAR. 
Vinegar is &\~o U6ed forcleansing wax. See p. 209. 

93 

WATER FUR BEES. 

E.VAPORATING THIN, NEWLY GATHERED MONEY. 

For my views on this matter, after conducting 
many careful experiments, see "Evaporating 
Nectar," on p. ITS, Vol. 3, A. B. J. 

94 

WINTERING. 

FEEDING UP FOK WINTER. 

Why not feed the whole 20 lbs. in oneor two nights 
if they have plenty of comb room and plenty of 
brood and young bees? That is the way I do. 

95 

CELLAR WINTERING, AND OUT-DOOR WINTERING. 

Notwithstanding there are probably at this date 
more bees wintered in cellars than any other way, I 
winter half of mine in a cellar, and half on summer 
stands, so I am sure of being right in one place or 
the other every winter. 

96 

DOOLITTLE'S BEE-CEU.A If. 

My bee-cellar has not raised three d< grees dining 
the winter since I built it, and we have had weather 
all the way from 2t)° below zero to (J5 above. Two or 
three days of 65° above does not affect it a particle; I 
do not use a stove as do Elwood, Root, and others. 

97 

WHY BEES WINTER WELL ONE WINTER, AND DO NOT 
ANOTHER, UNDER THE SAME CIRCUMSTANCES. 

This is candid, and I agree exactly. No one can 
tell why two swarms, sitting side by side, as near 
alike as two peas, should not winter alike; and yet, 



often one dies before March, while the other comes 
through a splendid colony. 

98 

FASTENING BEES IN THE HIVES IN WINTER. 

Tacked in chair, as you propose, bees do not need 
an entrance at all, especially in the cellar, and out of 
doors only where they can fly. Hence T close mine 
as tisrht as I can make them at the bottom in cellar, 
and generally do those out of doors. 

99 

WHEN TO TAKE BEES OUT OF THE CELLAR. 

As you advise waiting till pollen is plenty (which 
advice is good), your advice as to the time of day in 
putting out is bad, as it i* so warm at this season of 
the year that robbing will likely result from those 
set out previously, or from those wintered on sum- 
mer stands. Set out when sun is an hour high, on a 
warm day, and they will have a nice fly, and protect 
themselves the next morning. 

100 

WEAK COLONIES THAT CONSUME SCARCELY ANY 

STORES, COMPARATIVELY, NOT BEING OF MUCH 

VALUE. 

Beg pardon, but this is not so. The colony that 
consumes 1 he least stores in cellar wintering is al- 
wavs the best colony in the spring, and the one that 
will rt main quiet till pc lien is plenty. Nowsetthem 
out, and jou will have no spring dwindling, but each 
bee in the hive will be strong and vigorous, and as 
the weatht r is warm, they rush things. 

I agree with this, hut my remarks were 
meant to apply to those so small they could 
not need much. 

101 

NO. OF STOCKS IN A PERFECT CELLAR, NOT IM- 
PORTANT. 

With a cellar like ours it makes no difference 
whether there is one or 100 colonies in it, as it is not 
depend"nt on the bees for warmth, but it is the tem- 
perature of the ground at a depth of 8 feet, and that 
temperature is from 43 to 45 degrees above zero. 

102 

BEES THAT ARE FOUND ON THE FENCES AND WALKS 
IN THE SPRING, LADEN WITH POLLEN, ETC. 

I believe these bees die of old age, caused by a 
used-up vitality from holding the excrement so long, 
as I gave in the A. B. J., which friend Uoop and oth- 
ers "blowed" about so much. If you will consider, 
you will see that all evidences point that way. 

103 

SAVING SOILED OR MOLDY COMBS. 

This sounds better than what you say on page 250. 
[ believe it well pays to save all pieces of worker 
comb inches square. This you save, while fdn. 
costs money. 



Friend Root:— Although I have been pressed for 
time and hardly knew how to do it, 1 have thorough- 
ly read the preceding pages, and criticised what I 
considered wrong. I may not have clothed my lan- 
guage with as smooth a dress as some would have 
done; but, believe me, I have not intended to be 
harsh, and if you find any thing that so sounds, please 
forgive. I did not intend any thing but kindness. 

G. M. DOOLITTLE. 

Dorodino, N. Y., Nov. 1, 1880. 



CONCLUSION 



" It is customary," said I to my wife, " to 
have several leaves in the back of every 
book, with nothing on them ; two or more 
leaves of blank paper. Now, it is almost as 
easy to have something useful printed on 
these leaves, as to have them blank. Why 
shall we not use them?" 

" But, my husband, your book will look 
badly ; just think of having the reading-mat- 
ter reach the cover. Will it not look strange 
and singular V" 

" Does it look strange and singular to see 
advertisements on these concluding pages, 
in close contact with the reading matter?" 

" Well, no; I do not know that it does; but 
that, you know, is different." 

It is"different,"my friends, and I presume 
more than one of you have noticed the broad 
difference between the matter contained in 
the book, and the character of the advertise- 
ments contained in these last pages. I beg 
pardon for this little bit of fault-finding, and 
will try to remember that I am responsible 
for only the last pages of my book, and not 
for those of other people. 

Now, then, with the young bee-keepers, 
with the boys and girls, and perhaps also 
with the men and women, who have read my 
ABC book thus far, and all who feel they 
are young in the art of keeping bees, I would 
have a little friendly talk. I wish you to let 
me feel as if perfectly well acquainted ; so 
much so that I might come in without 
knocking, or any introduction, and talk 
about home matters, your bees and bee-hives, 
or any thing else, wherein my experience 
might enable me to help you. I can almost 
imagine already, that some bright young- 
ster who has been eyeing me keenly and 
curiously thinks, if he does not say it out- 
right : 

" Haven't you got something to sell, Mr.?" 

■' No, my boy, I have nothing to sell ; at 
least, not to-day. I keep things to sell, when 



at home ; but now I am making you a visit, 
and what I wish to tell you about is given 
away, without money and without price." 

" Isn't it a chromo ?" 

"No, it isn't a chromo. Come with me, 
and you shall see. Isn't that funny V ' Come 
with me, and you shall see.' Tell sister to 
come ; and if all the rest will come too, we 
shall be very glad to have them. Have you a 
hoe V Well, bring that, and have sister bring 
her little broom. We are going to build a 
little village. We will have streets and 
houses in our village, and we will have folks 
live there too. Oh, such folks ! for they not 
only work hard all day, but they come pretty 
near working all night also." 

" Is it the bees ?" 

" You have guessed it exactly, ' Sis;' it is 
the bees, and their hives are to be the 
houses." 

" But, they will sting." 

" Not if we get acquainted. How did you 
get acquainted with me ?" 

" We 'talked.'" 

" That is the idea exactly ; we are to talk 
with the bees, and get acquainted." 

"Bees can't talk." 

" Oh, but bees can talk. They can talk in 
their way just as your old Rover talks to 
you, and just as the hens and chickens do. 
It is true, they do not talk with their mouths, 
as we do; but for all that, they talk, and very 
plainly too, as I think we shall see. When 
Rover is glad to see you, what does he say V" 

" He says, ' Bow, wow, wow, wow,' and 
wags his tail." 

" Very good. Now, when you are gather- 
ing the eggs, and you find one of the hens 
that sticks to the nest, and won't get off, 
what does she say when you try to get her 
off V" 

" I Mow what she says, but /can't say it. 
She says, 'cr-r-r-r, cr-^-r-rrrv' and she 
pecks." 



CONCLUSION. 



" Well, you know exactly what she, means 
do you not ? Does she not say, as plainly as 
words could tell it, L You go way off, and let 
me be ; I will sit, if I want to. They are my 
eggs, for I laid 'em'?" 

" Well, now, the bees talk just as plainly as 
the hen and dog; but as you are not acquaint- 
ed with them, I will go along and act as in- 
terpreter. That is, I will tell you what they 
say. As little folks are pretty easily fright- 
ened or discouraged, I think mamma had 
better fix some sort of a veil on your hats, 
until you get a little used to the business. 
Any sort of an old veil will do, or some new 
ones can be cheaply made, of a piece of tarle- 
tan. Now notice ; if I go up to their hives, 
and stand in front of them, they will buzz 
all round me ; and pretty soon, if I do not 
move, they will begin to ' scold,' very much 
as the old hen did ; and to me, it is just as 
plain what they want. They want you to 
get away, so they can go on with their work. 
When you go up to the hives, always be 
careful to stand at one side of their line of 
travel, and then they will be much less likely 
to try to drive you away. Almost every hive 
lias a particular ' path ' through the air, and 
we are to watch and see where this path is, 
and let them have it, full width. 

"Now, boys, for business ; pull down all 
the old sheds there may be around the bee- 
hives; clear away all rubbish; and if the 
hives are set on any kind of benches, clear 
these all away, and set them right on the 
ground; or, rather, raise them on 4 half-bricks 
laid down flat; if we are going to have a con- 
venient village, we must have the houses 
on the ground, not up on stilts. 

" We have not called upon papa yet ; but 
now we shall have to ask him for a load of 
nice sawdust, and then we are ready for the 
little broom and hoe, to make the streets 
and lanes and alleys of our city. It may be 
a little city some time, if we keep at work as 
the bees do, and do not get discouraged. 



comb, you will see the cells are six-sided, 
like the above. 

"There are several reasons why the bees 
can not have square rooms, as we do, and one 
of them is that the bees are round, and would 
not fit in square cells. A young bee, I im- 
agine, would find himself quite uncomfor- 
table in a square cradle; and if the cells 
were made round, they would not fit up 
against each other, as they do now, without 
waste corners. So you see the bee makes 
his cell six-sided to save room, labor, and 
material. Now we wish our bee village 
made six-sided for the same reason, and to 
save travel in working among them. If you 
have only seven hives, we will make them 
stand about like this ; one in the center, and 
six around it. 

"You see by the drawing, how the hives are 
to be placed, and where the sawdust is to be 
spread for the paths. On the south side of 
each hive I have shown you the grapevine 
trellis you will probably have after a 
while. You can just see the tops of the 
posts, and the top-strips. 

"As we must have every thing exact inlay- 
ing out a city, we will cut a stick just six 
feet long, and arrange all the hives so they 
are just six feet from the center one, and 
from each other. Make a nice walk of saw- 
dust from the hives to the house, that Ave 




DRONE-COMB. 



WORKER-COMB 



Now I suppose you will disagree with me, 
when I tell you how, we are to lay out the 
streets ;> for I am going to plan our city just 
as the bees plan their rooms inside their 
houses. If you look at a piece of honey- 



IIEXAGONAL APIARY OF 7 HIVES. 

may not get mamma's floor muddy when we 
run back and forth ; now make a walk be- 
tween and around all the hives, and bank 
sawdust up nicely all round them, to keep 
them warm, and to keep the grass and weeds 
from growing in the way before their doors. 
If you will fix their doorways all nice and 
clean, they will get just as proud of their 
homes as the old hen does of her chickens ; 
you see if they do not. 

" If the hives do not stand just as you want 
them, or pretty nearly so, when you com- 
mence, you must move them into place a lit- 
tle at a time each day, or you will make 



CONCLUSION. 



serious trouble. If you move a bee's hive, 
even a few feet, he is as much lost as you 
would be if your own house were moved a 
mile, for he always comes home to the exact 
spot from which he started out. If you com- 
mence your improvements in the spring, be- 
fore the bees begin to fly, you can set the 
hives anywhere you choose, without making 
any trouble, but you can not do this in the 
summer time while they are flying. "When 
the sawdust is all fixed, sister is to keep the 
paths all swept neatly with her little broom, 
and all hands are to contribute in keeping 
every thing neat and tidy." 

" But, we have not heard the bees ' talk ' 
yet." 



about bees talking, for they do it with their 
wings, and not with their mouths. 

" I think each one of you children may 
choose which hive he will have, and then we 
can see who will get most honey from his or 
her hive. We have a little blue-eyed girl at 
our home, and she has a hive that contains 
the prettiest queen, the prettiest and gent- 
lest bees, and they have made the nicest lit- 
tle cakes of honey, of any hive in our whole 
apiary, and there are nearly a hundred in all. 

" Now while I think of it, I believe I will 
show you a picture of myself and 'Blue 
Eyes,' so that you would readily know us, if 
we should ever come to see you. Here it is. 




NOVICE AND BLUE EYES. 



" Haven't you V Well, just go up to a hive 
on the back side, and rap gently, just as if 
you wished to come in." 

" They say, Buzz-z-z-z-z." 

" Well, what do you suppose that means ?" 

" I guess it means, 'Go right away, and let 
us be.'" 

" Very good ; after we know them a little 
better, I think we shall be able to under- 
stand almost all they say, or at least all they 
wish to say, Now, there is something funny 



If you will look at our hexagonal apiary, 
a little further on, you will see her hive right 
in front of the door of the honey house. She 
has a little broom, and sweeps the sawdust 
up around the hives, and stamps it down 
with her little foot, and she isn't afraid of 
the bees, one particle. She has never been 
stung at all, while at work among them. If 
you will turn over to the picture of the House 
Apiary, you will see where she and her sister 
Maud bare their playhouse. It is up stairs 



CONCLUSION 



where the plants stand out by the window. 
You can see them both, standing on the 
steps ; but the man who made the picture 
did not try very hard, I guess, when he made 
their faces, for it does not look very much 
like them. They have never had any trouble 
with the bees in their playroom, except one 
day when they had some very nice water- 
melon for tea, and the bees came to tea too, 
and liked the watermelon so well that they 
went home and told the rest of the bees 
(don't you see bees can talk V) in the hive 
about it, and so many of them came that the 
children ran to ask me what they 
should do. You can see me in my camp- 
chair down by the door of the house. You 
see I had a nice young queen that I wanted 
to have lay eggs, because I knew, after she 
had commenced laying eggs, we should soon 
have a nice lot of young bees in the hive. 
Well, it was rather dark in the house where 
their hive was, so I took the comb with the 
bees on it, carried it outdoors and sat down 
to look for the tiny white eggs. 

" After the bees get acquainted with you, 
they will not scold and tell you to go away, 
but will alight right on your hand or face, and 
sometimes they alight right on my nose. I 
suppose it is because my nose is rather large, 
but it does not make me feel bad at all, if it 
is large, for I know that God made it so. 
When we come to die, I suppose he will ask 
all about our lives, whether we have been 
good or bad, and whether we have talked 
bad, and told lies, or stolen things, but I do 
not believe he will ever say one word about 
our noses. 

" I almost forgot to tell you, that our ' Blue 
Eyes ' — her name is Constance, and we call 
her ' Conny ' for short — always comes up to 
the shop to tell me when the bees are swarm- 
ing. Some days when I am writing with my 
type- writer, just as I am now, all at once 
somebody will say, ' Papa ! bees is swam'in',' 
and I tell you I ' hustle,' for I do not want 
my nice queens to go off and get lost. When 
I get home I usually find that my wife has 
hunted out the queen, and has got her in a 
cage. We tie the cage on the rake, with a 
green bush, and pretty soon the bees clus- 
ter all round her. One Sunday I had to go 
off to teach Sabbath-school, and I was afraid 
some of the bees would swarm, so I told 
Ernest (he is our boy, 14 years old), that I 
would give him a dollar for every swarm he 
would hive while I was gone. When I got 
home I found a ' great big swarm ' had come 
out of Connie's hive, and he had hived it 
just as nicely as I could have done, 



" Do you go to Sunday-school ?" 

" I am too little, and it is too far." 

" Do father and mother go V" 

"■They go to meeting." 

" Does brother go ?" 

" I guess he doesn't think very much about 
it." 

" Do any bad boys live around here ?" 

" Oh yes! there is some that is 'awful' bad. 
They fire guns on Sunday, and sometimes 
they steal our bee-hives in the night." 

" We would be really glad to have these 
boys become good, and stop doing these 
wicked things, would we not ?" 

"But, they won't never go to Sunday- 
school." 

" I know they are not very apt to go ; but 
sometimes very wicked boys feel badly and 
are sorry, and if somebody would talk with 
them, and help them a little, they would 
make really good men. Sometimes they 
have no kind father and mother to take care 
of them, as you and I have, and perhaps 
nobody has been kind to them. 

" Now I think it is just as nice to have a 
good Sabbath-school, as it is to have a nice 
apiary, and I am not sure but that one helps 
the other. You go to school, do you not V" 

" Yes, and we have just the nicest 
school ma'am." 

" Well, that is very fortunate, for I am sure 
she will be glad to help you start a Sabbath- 
school. You can talk to her about it, and 
get her to ask permission of the trustees to 
hold it in the schoolhouse every Sunday aft- 
ernoon. If you can get the minister to 
come and help start it, it will be a very good 
plan ; but if not, get the best man you know 
of, to come and ask God to help you all to 
go to work right. We must work in the 
Sunday-school exactly as the bees do in the 
hive. We must work all together. Do you 
suppose the bees in the hives ever scold or 
get mad at each other V Sometimes their 
honey is all gone, and they have to starve to 
death ; but from what I have seen of their 
actions, I do not believe they ever blame 
each other and say, ' It was all your fault, you 
might have worked better when honey was 
plentiful, as we did.' On the contrary, they 
seem to work together just as your right 
hand works with your left. Did you ever 
have your right hand get mad at your other 
and strike it?" 

" Why, no ; one of my hands could not get 
mad at the other." 

" Did you ever get mad, and strike your 
brother V" 

" Yes, but that is different.'' 



CONCLUSION 



" It is different, that is true ; but why can , 
you not feel toward your own brother, just 
as you do toward your left hand ? Do you j 
not think we would all be much happier V 
Don't you think our mothers would be pleas- 
ed if we did that way ? We would all stop 
finding fault, and what a happy world it 
would be !" 

"But, folks don't do that way. We can't j 
always be good." 

" True, true ; we can not always be good, ' 
but can we not always keep trying ?" 

" I guess we could, if God would wait a 
little sometimes when we are real ugly." 

" Well, I think he will, if we do the very | 
best we can. Now it is almost time for me 
to go home; but I hope you will get your 
teacher, your parents, and everybody else, 
from the baby clear up to grandpa and 
grandma, to help start that Sabbath school. 
God will take care of you all, and tell you ■ 
what to do, if you only ask him, and the bad 
boys will all come too, after a while, if you 
are all kind and pleasant, just as I told you 
the bees were. You will need some of the 
Gospel Hymns to sing from, and you will ' 
need lesson papers, and some little cards, for 
the children who learn the Golden Texts, j 
and some of the pretty Sunday-school papers 
that are printed nowadays. Do you wonder 
where all these are to come from ? Well, if ; 
you ask God to send them, and keep work- 
ing as the bees do, they will all come pret- 
ty soon. Do you ask how you shall work V 
Well I guess the first thing will be to be kind ' 



and pleasant to every one, and to ask them 
all to come and help the school along. God 
will tell you when you are working in the 
right way, by making you feel more happy 
and joyous than you ever did before in life. 
You will like your bees better than you ever 
did before; the flowers will seem prettier, 
the grass greener, and all the world more 
beautiful, just because you have been trying 
to help the world to be good, instead of be- 
ing altogether selfish. Whenever you help 
anybody to do right, you have helped God, 
and he always pays folks for doing such 
work, by making them very happy. 

" There, now I must go ; remember the 
bees; do not let them starve; and, O my 
friends! do remember the Sabbath-school; do 
not let it drop nor dwindle down, but show 
God that you can be depended upon, even 
if it does storm and blow. He that is faith- 
ful in a few things, shall be made ruler over 
many." 

I have several times found colonies of bees so 
nearly dead from starvation that a great part of 
them were down on the bottom of the hive, and so 
weak as to be but just able to move. When honey 
was given them, the first ones would take a good 
load, and just as soon as strength returned they 
would hasten to feed the rest; they too would re- 
vive, and very soon all hands were as busy as they 
possibly could be, passing it round and helping the 
others, until all were ready to join in one grand ju- 
bilee of thankfulness for the timely succor. Can 
not we learn of them, two lessons. First, to spread 
every thing that is good, freely and unselfishly, and 
then to unite in a joyous thanksgiving for the peace 
and plenty that we enjoy as a people? 



INDEX. 



Absconding After Being- Hived, Prevention of 1 | 

" Caused by Dissatisfaction with Hive... 3 

" Directions for Preventing in Spring 3 

First Swarms, Prevention of 2 

From Want of Food 2 

In Early Spring 2 

" In Spring, on the Increase since Mod- 
ern Improvements 3 

" Nucleus Swarms 3 

" To Prevent, of New Swarms 1 

Absconding Swarms 1-3 

" " In Spring, Prefer to Enter 

Other Hives 2 

" " Several Unite 2 

After-Swarming 3-5 

" " A Mania 233 

" " Cautions about 4 

Definition of 3 

" " Prevention of , One Plan with Its 

Objections 4 

" Other Methods 4 

" With Box Hives.. .4 

After-Swarms 4 

" " Advantages of 4 

" " Amusing Features of 4 

May be Built Up 4 

Number of 3 

Size of 4 

A^e of Bees 5 

" " Affected bv Brood-Rearing 5 

" Cut Short by Wearing out of Wings . 5, 280 

" " How to Ascertain 5 

" " (See bees) 39 

Alighting-Boards 5-7 

Best Kind of fi 

" " Detachable 6 

" " Directions for Making 6 

" " For House-Apiary 6 

" " Importance of 6 

Alsike Clover 7-8, 25 

" " Amount of Seed to the Acre 7 

" " Preparation of Ground for 7 

" Profit from Seed of 8 

" " Rank of, as Honey-Plant 7 

" Saving Seed of S 

" " Sown with Other Crops 7 

" Time of Blossoming 7 

" " Time of Sowing 7 

" " Value of, for Hav and Pasture 7 

" Weight of Seed per Bushel ,8 

Anger of Bees 8-10 

" " Can Generally be Avoided by Care.. 8 

" " From Colonies Having a Habit of 

Robbing 9 

" " How Excited 8 

" " Indicated by High Key Note 9 

" " Intense 221 

" " Occasioned by Feeding Sweets in 

the Open Air 10 

Ants 10-11 

" How Disposed of by One of my Swarms 10 

" How to Get Rid of, Pleasantly and Easily 11 

" Keeping them from Barrels of Honey, Su- 
gar, &c 10 

" Kill Young Plants and Trees 11 

" Meeting of Males and Females 71 

" Not Troublesome to Strong Stocks 10 

Aphides 23 

" Agency in Producing Dysentery 77 

" Excrement of 23 

Apiarist, Definition of 11 

" Ignorant 31 

Apiary 11-18 

" Floating 18 

House, Objections to and Advantages of 15 



Apiary, Lawn or Chaff-Hive, Advantages of and 

Objections J:o 14 

" Rail-Road 18 

" Vineyard, Directions. for Starting 12-14 

" WhichStyle to Adopt 18 

" Wind-Breaks for 11 

Artificial Comb, Attempts to j Produce.JSee^coMB 

FDN.) 23 

" Fertilization 23 

Heat 185,24 

" " Much Risk, Experiments 24 

" " Often Proves a Failure .24 

" Pasturage, Little Encouragement to 

such Investments 24 

" Swarming 25 

Caution 27 

" " Changing Position of Hives... 25 

Fdn. in Place of Empty Combs . 27 

" " Preventing Death of Queen... 25 

" " RearingJQueens for 26 

" " Suggestions to New Hand 25 

" " With Combs of Hatching 

Brood 25, 27 

Asters, Description of 27 

" Largo class of Autumn Flowers Under 

this Name 27 

Automatic Swarmer, Jones' 258 

How to Use 258 

" Swarming 258 

Balling Queens 156 

Barnes Bros.; Criticisms, Suggestions, &c, on 

their work 134 

" " Foot-Power Saws 114, 134 

Barrels, Coating with Paraffine 29 

Cost of 29 

" For Comb Honey 29 

" Having Returned 29 

Leaky 29 

" Material for 29 

Profitable Size 29 

" Removing Candied Honey from 30 

Basswood or Linden 30 

Compared with White Clover 30 

Cultivation 31 

" Description of Tree and Blossom 31 

OfGreatValue 30 

Our Plantation of 4000 30, 280 

Honey, Taste of 31 

" " Yield of, from One Hive in a 

Single Day 31 

Bee-Bread (See pollen) 31 

Bee-Dress 31 

" For Ladies 32 

" " Gloves, &c 32 

" Veils 31,32,274 

Bee-Moth 36 

" " How to Keep Combs Secure From ... .37, 306 

" " How the Eggs are Deposited 37 

" " In Box Honey 37 

" " In Lamp Nursery 38,170 

" " In Section Boxes 191 

" In the Hive 37 

" " Italians a Preventive of 37 

" " Removing Worms of from the Comb 38 

" " Summing lip 38 

" Traps for, &c 37 

" " Bees' Worst Enemy 36 

Bee-Journals (last page) 

Bee-Keepers (See apiarist) 11 

" " Ignorant 36 

Bee-Keeping, A Hazardous Business 304 

Bee Stings (Sec stings) 239 

Bees 39-41 

" Advantages to Fruit-Raising 186, 1S8 

" Albino 39, 159 

" Attachment to Home j 



INDEX. 



Bees Attracted by Color of Flowers 185 

" Breeding in Winter 185 

" Bumble 188 

" By the Pound 288 

" Cyprian 39 

" Difference in Color 39 

" Disposition to Rob 9 

" Division of Stock 41 

" Egyptian 39 

" First Flight of 40 

" Food of Hatching 40 

" Following Their Owner to the Grave 192 

" H( >w They Build Coin! » 143 

" How They Grow 39 

" " From the Egg to the Time of 

Hatching 39 

" How to Dispose of Annoying 10 

" Hunting 32 

" Instinct of, vs. Reason 189 

" In Upper Room's or Garrets 257 

" Italian (See Italians) 157 

" Kept with Profit in Large Cities 11 

" Lack of Cmn passion 198 

" Length of Flight 172 

" Manner of Ventilating the Hives 276 

'• Mixing in Different Hives 160 

" Need of Water 279 

" Number in a Quart 177 

" On Shares 41 

" " " Disadvantages of 41 

11 On the Rampage 221 

- Play Spell of Young 223 

" Scent of 207 

" Size of Worker 146 

" " Drone 146 

" Stepping on 32 

" Study of the Habits of 39 

" Telescopic Vision of 189 

" Time of Hatching 39, 168, 195 

" Two Varieties of 39 

" When in Their Prime 41 

" What Age to Have (Sec age of bees) 41 

" Wonderful Instinct in Building Comb 143 

Bees' Wax (See WAX) 283 

Bee-House (See DEPOSITORIES) 300 

" Yards 6 

" Reasons for Keeping Clean 6 

" Poultry, Dogs, &c., to be Excluded from. 11 

" " Preparation of 11 

Bellows Smokers (See smokers) 233 

Benzine to Remove Wax from Utensils 287 

Birds, Rating Bees 165 

Black Bees Inferior to Italians 37-38 

" Longevity of Compared with Italians. . .5 

" Mixing with Italians 157 

" " Stinging 127 

" " Two Varieties of 39 

" Will not Work on Red Clover 52 

" Work on Buckwheat Better than Ital- 
ians 42 

Bleaching Wax 283, 288 

"Blessed Bees," an Experience He Didn't Tell of .g04 

Blue Thistle, Value as a Honey Plant 42 

" " A Nuisance 42 

Books on Bee-Culture (last page) 

Bottom-Boards 120 

Breeding In and In 72 

Brood, Difference Between Drone and Worker. 40, 71 

" For Artificial Swarms 25 

" Need of Pollen for 184 

" Uncovered 40 

" (Sec bees) 39 

Buckwheat Sometimes Pays for Sowing 24 

" Better for Blacks and Hybrids than 

f i >r Italians 42 

Cultivation of 42 

Three Varieties of 42 

Honev of, Taste and Value 42 

Valuable as a Honey Producer 42 

Building up in Spring 305 

Bumble Bees, Fertilization of Queens 71 

" Use of in Fertilizing Red Clover 

Blossoms 188 

Cages for Queens, Their Use 47 

" Candy for ] .47 

" " Difficulties in Using 47 

" " Manufacture of 47 

" " Requisites in 47 

' „ Putting in 48 

" For Introducing 47 

Cages for Introd'g, Need of Plenty of Food in 47 

' How to Put Bees and Queen in .' . . .49 

" Metal 277 

' Number of Bees to Accompany Queen in ... .48 
" Putting Wire Cloth on 48 I 



< 'ages. Supplying with Water by Means of Vial. . . .48 

" Size of 48 

" Ventilating During Shipment 276 

Candied-Honev Confectionery 49 

" Extracted 84 

" " How Formed ...50 

" " Prevention of 49 

Candy for Bees and Queens (See cages for queens). 44 

" Burnt 50 

Caution About 51 

" Cost of 51 

Feeding 50 

" For Little Folks 44 

" In Brood-Frames 50 

" Making, Flour Used in 51 

What Sugar to Use for M 

" To Promote Brood-Rearing in Spring 99 

" " " Winter 301 

" Use of, to Prevent Spring Dwindling 68 

" When to Feed 99 

" " " Etc. (See feeding) 99 

Careful Work 129 

Cary's better Descriptive of Wax-Press 286 

" Wax-Press 286 

Catnip, Its Value 51 

" Seed and Cultivation of 51 

Cellars for Wintering 300 

" Advantages of Wintering in 303 

" Dampness in 301 

" How to Avoid 301 

" Dead Bees in 304 

Number of Colonies in 303 

Preparing Stocks for 301 

" Removing from, to Old Stands 302 

" Temperature of 302 

When to Put in 302 

" " Take From 302-303 

Cells, Different Kinds of 144 

" Structure of 144, 146 

" (See queen-cells) 197 

Chaff, A Remedy for Spring Dwindling 68 

" " " " " not Posi- 
tive 305 

" Packing for Spring 301 

" Winter 292,295,296 

What Kind to Use 294 

Chaff Cushions, For Wintering 63, 295 

How to Make 295 

" " On Surplus Boxes 276 

" " To Prevent Disease 77 

Chaff-Cushion Division-Boards 70 

" " for Nuclei 70 

" " " " Wintering 70 

" " " " To Prevent Disease. 70 

Chaff-Hive Apiary 18 

" Clark's 179 

" " Entrances to 83 

" For Wintering, the Best 200,302 

" " How to Make 121 

" " Its Advantages 113 

Changing Position of Colonies to Stop Robbing. . .218 

Chemical Paint 129 

Cider Unsealed in cells 51 

" Mills, a Detriment 51 

" " How to Keep Bees from access to 51 

Clamps for Making Section Boxes 131 

" (See Repositories for Wintering) 300 

Clipping Queens' Wings 2, 3, 186, 298 

" " Caution about 208 

" " When Swarming 253 

Clover, Alfalfa 52 

" Alsike (See alsike clover) 7 

" Esparcette 52 

" Red 52 

" " Bumble Bees Required to Fertilize 

Seed of 188 

( 'olor of Pollen from 52 

" Sweet or Melilot; Its Value 52 

Trefoil, AVhite and Yellow 52 

" White 52 

" Dutch 52 

" intheSouth 18 

" " the Best Honey-Producer 52 

" " Superiority of Honey from 52 

Clustering, Duration of 1 

Of Successive Swarms in Same Place. 258 

reason of 258 

Clustering, Outside the Hive, Indicative of Swarm- 
ing 251 

" " " " Never Allow 251 

" " To Prevent 58,251 

Cold-Blast Smoker, Corey's and Clark's 232 

" *' " How to Make 230 

Cold Weather, Handling Bees in. , 397 



INDEX 



Comb, Artificial (See comb foundation) 53 

" Baskets, Cost of 53 

" " Made of Tin 52 

Their Use 53 

Care of Empty 38 

" " When Soiled, Moldy and filled with 

Dead Bees 306 

" Heavy, Likely to Sag the Bottom-Bar 367 

" Holders for 173, 243 

" In Bee-Trees 35 

" Melting in Hive 129 

" (See honey comb) 143 

" Starting in Fruit -Bloom 107 

" Straight, How to Secure 53 

Comb Foundation 23, 53 

" " Abbreviated to "fdn." 56 

" " Cutter, Carlin's 56 

" " Fastening in Frames 56 

" " First Mention of 53 

" " Frames for Trimming 55 

Its Great Value 53 

" " " Use in Obtaining Straight 

Combs 53 

" " Machines and their Invention 53 

Making Wax Sheets for 54 

Rolling the Wax Sheets 54 

" " Sagging of 56 

" " Testimony for, Favorable 56 

" " Trimming 55 

" " Used in Rearing Workers and 

Drones 73 

Use of Parafline f or 53,280 

" " Wires in 56 

" Working Small Lots of Wax 

into 54 

Comb Honey 58 

" " Handling 59 

" " How to Market (See crates for hon- 
ey) 62 

" " In Section-Frames < 59,60 

" " Keep Clean 62 

" " Removing Filled Sections 58 

" Setting Bees to Work on 60,251 

" " Shipped in Neatest Possible Form.... 61 

" " When to Remove from Hive 60 

Concord Grape Vines, Culture of 14 

" Growth of 12 

" How to Plant 12 

" ' " " "Propagate 13 

" " Treatment of 12 

Confectionery Made of Candied Honey 49 

Confinement to Hives, While indoors During Win- 
ter 302 

Corn 186 

" Its Flower, Stalk, Etc 186 

" Why it Contains no Honey 186 

Covers for Chaff Hives 124 

" Frames 138 

" " Hives, How to Make 119 

" " Langstroth Hives 120 

Crates for Honey 61 

" To Hold 48 Sections 61 

" " " " " How Received in Cities .. 61 

" " " " To Make 61 

" " " Size of 61 

" " " " " Suggestions About 62 

Cross-Breeding of Ants 71 

" Bees 71 

Cultivation of Honey-Producing Plants 25 

Cutter-Head, How to Use 133 

" " ToPutinOrder 133 

Cyprian Bees 39 

Dandelion as a Honey and Pollen Producer 67 

" • Honey of 67 

Davis' Transposition Process 197 

Dead Bees, What to Do with 306 

Death Resulting from Loss of Wings 280 

Decoy Hives 258 

Destruction of Bees by Milkweed 171 

" " " (See ENEMIES OF BEES) 81 

" " Drones in Fall 75 

Diseases of Bees 67 

" Bees Little Liable to j 67 

" Most Important 67 

" Other 69 

" Prevention of 67 

(See dysentery, foul brood, and Spring 

Dwindling) 68, 105. 67 

Distance Traveled by Bees 172 

Dividing (also see artificial swarming) 69 

Division-Boards, Made of Lath and Chaff 69 

" " ForNuclei 70,179 

" " For Wintering 70 

" " OfWiroCJoth 179 

Pollar Queens ,,..,,,, , 303 



Doubling up Colonies to Cure Spring Dwindling. .305 

Dovetailing Wide Frames for Sections 133 

" Brood Frames 137 

" Sections 131 

Dress for the Apiarist 31 

" Ladies 33 

Drone-Laying Queens 302 

Drones, Age of 5, 71 

" Brood Distinguished from Worker 40, 71 

" Cells of 144 

" Description of 71 

" Destruction of in Fall 75 

" From the Egg to Hatching 70 

" From Workers 73 

" Have but One Parent 72 

" NoSting 70 

" How to Rear and How to be Rid of 74 

" Larvas of. in Queen-Cells 196 

" Mating with Queens 71 

" " " " Theory Concerning... 72 

" Not Affected by Fertilization of Queen .... 73 

" Organs of 203 

" Peculiarity of Eggs 72 

Purity of 158 

" Rearing Out of Season 74 

Value of 74 

" To Preserve for Late Queen-Rearing 75 

Drouth 99 

Drumming Out for Transferring 268 

Dwindling in Spring (See Spring Dwindling) 67 

Dysentery 67, 75 

" Agency of Aphides in Producing 77 

" Cause of 76 

" Cure of 77 

" Prevention of 76 

" Symptoms of 76 

Economy of Labor 133 

" " " in Interior of Hive 144-145 

Eggs From Fertile Workers 73 

Plurality of, in Cells.. 103 

In Drone-Comb, Unimpregnated 70 

In Queen-Cells, How Deposited 205 

In Unfinished Cells 145 

Of Poultry Compared With Ejrgs of Queen ... 72 

Phenomenon Regarding 72 

" To Procure 26 

Egyptian Bees 254 

Enameled Cloth for Covering Frames 233 

Enemies of Bees, Different Kinds 81 

" " King-Birds 165 

" " Mice 81 

" " " Parasites 81 

" " " Skunks 81 

" " Spiders.. 81 

" " " Thieves and Patent-Right Ven- 



Entrances to the Hives, Auger-Holes for 6, 84 

Clogging of 82 

" Contracted to Prevent Robbing 218 

For Ventilation 275 

" Number of 83 

" Position of 83 

Sizeof 83,164 

" " " in Winter 83 

Expense of Sugar Compared with Honey 97 

Experiments in Artificial Heat 34, 185. 301 

Extracted Honey 84 

" " Candying of 84 

" Colorof 85 

" FirstTonof 84 

" "Green" 85 

" HowtoKeep 87 

" " Seal Up 86,91 

" " Sell 89 

" " Pails for retailiner 89 

" " " " " Kind of Jar to Use... 89 

" Looks rs. Taste 85 

" How to Ship 85 

" " Value of 84 

" " When to Extract 84 

" " Yield of, Compared with Comb 

Honey 84 

Extractor, Honey, Advantages of 87 

Costof 94 

" " Coverfor 83 

" " How to Make 87 

" " Requisites of 87 

Extractor, Honey, Size of 93 

" " To Secure Best Results With. . .87 

" " Wood vs. Metal 87 

Extractor, Wax 284 

" " Gerster 284 

»' » Report of, from A, Grirnm 28! 



INDEX 



Extracting: Honey, Caution Concerning: 77, 87 

" " From Small Pieces of Comb or 

Section Boxes 94 

Practiced for 10 Years 84 

Time for 84 

Exudation Theory (See Aphides) 144, 146 

Evaporation of Honey by Bees 279 

Feeders 97-100 

" For Open Air and Water 281 

'• Hains' 102, 235 

" Pan and Cheese Cloth 101 

" Price of 101 

" Sunflower 249 

" Simplicity, Description of 100 

" Tea-Kettle 98 

" The Kind We Use 98 

Feeding at Night 102 

" " Candy 47, 50, 51, 100, 302 

" Caution Concerning- 102 

" " In Using Brown Sugar and Burnt 

Honey 98 

" During- Aster-Bloom 27 

Fast or Slowly 99 

From Filled Combs 97 

Grape Sugar 88, 281 

Kinds of Feeders to Use for 98 

" " " " " " (See Feeders) 

Large Quantities 98, 101 

Method of 98 

Need of 97 

Nuclei 100 

Outside or Inside of Hive 98 

" Sugar or Honey 97 

" To Procure Dr< >nes 73 

To Produce Comb Honey 101 

What to Use for 97 

Fertile Workers, Cause of 103 

" " Eggs from 73 

To Detect Presence of 103 

To Get Rid of 103 

" " Undeveloped Females 102 

Fertilization, A Second Time 204 

" In Confinement 2(14 

a Doubtful Benefit if 

Succeeded in 23 

a Failure 2 J 

" Open Air 33, 204 

a Benefit 23 

of Ants 7i 

" (See qitekns) 195 

Figworl or Simpson Honey-Plant 163, 105 

Filing Saws, Cross-cut 136 

Waste in, How to Avoid 135 

Fits and Starts 120 

Flight of Bees. Distance of 172 

Floating Apiary, Co. I'eri-i ne's on the M is.sis.-ippilS 

" " ' Loss of Bees in Moving 18 

on the Nile 18 

the Project of 18 

Flowers, Colors of 189 

Folding Tent, for Tianslering, etc 22'i 

Food for Larvae '.'09 

" Queen* 196 

" of Young Bees 4!) 

Foot-Power Saws, Barnes', How to Use 114, 131 

Foul Brood, Cause KM! 

" " Communicated to Other Colonies 1(15 

Description of 105 

Localities where Found 1(15 

Remedies for 106 

" " Symptoms of 105 

What it Is? 105 

Foundation (See comb foundation) 53 

Fountain for Watering Bees 2S1 

" How to Make 28f 

" Pump for Bringing down Swarms 259 

Frames, All Wood, for Hives 127 

" Covers for .127 

" Distance from Center to Center 127 

Filled with Sections 133 

" Grooves in, to Hold the Comb Guide 127 

Handling 242 

Holders for 243, 244 

How Manv in a Hive? 127 

" To Dovetail the Corners of 127 

Frames, Length of Top Bar 126 

" Langstroth, Size of 125 

" Lumber to Use for 126 

" Mat for Covering 128 

" Metal Bearings of 126 

" Space Between, and Body of Hive 126 

Tall and Shallow 243 

" Two Sizes in Apiary 177 

Wide, How to Make 132 

" " How to. use ^yith Sec. Boxes. 128 



Fruit-Blossoms, Honey from, Inferior g 107 

" " Importance of '. 107 

Fruit, Color of 189 

" Injured by Bees or not ? 107, 189 

Gill-Over-The-G round, As a Honey Producer 110 

Gloves 32 

Goldenrod, Fifty-Three Varieties 110 

" How to Identify....- HI 

" " Its Importance Ill 

" " Localities where Found Ill 

" " Quality of Honey ! Ill 

Grapes, Crossing- Varieties of 188 

Grape Sugar, Effect on Spring Dwindling 308 

Grape Vines, Concord, Growth and Cultivation 

of 12-14 

Grooving or Dovetailing Frames 126, 131, 132 

Sections 131 

Ground Clean Around Entrances 82 

Gauge for Frame Making 126 

" Hive " 116 

" Steel Track, for Grooving Sections and 

Frames 126, 133 

Handling Bees 174, 242, 244 

" In Cold Weather 297 

Italians 244 

" Queens 155 

" Sections 58 

Hanging Out 58, 191, 251 

" " Indication of Swarming 251 

- " " Never Allow 251 

" To Prevent 251 

Hatching, Time Required for 39, 168, 196 

Hill's Device for Wintering 294 

Hive-Making, All About it 113-140 

Hives, Chaff 113 

" Clark-s 179 

" How to Make 121 

" Concluding Remarks 129 

" Distance from Center to Center 14 

Economy of Labor in Making 103 

Entrances to 82 

How They Become Da up 293 

" To Make Moth-Proof 37 

" To Open 24.' 

Painting 129 

Poor, Cause of Dysentery 76 

(See Frames) 1V6 

Simplicity, How to Make 113 

WhvMostLNed 113 

To Keep Boards from Warping 115 

Hiving Swarms, Apparatus for 235 

" Implements for 252 

Method of 252,262 

Honey, Basswood 30,31,85 

Honey Comb, Absolute Perfection of 1 '4 

A Famous Problem 144 

Aga-^iz's Explanation 147 

Disputed.... 148 

Bitt >m of Cells D4 

Different Kind* of Cell* 141 

Differently Worked in Different Col- 
onies 145 

Fostering the Hight Trait 141 

How Built 144 

Mathematical Accuracy of 144 

Math-matic* of 145 

" " Rhombic Dodecahedron 115 

" " " Economy of 

Shape 145 

" " Science of the Structure 146 

^hape. Why 6-Sided 144 

" " Size of Cells, Drone and Worker . . .147 

To Keep Propolis From 192 

True Method of Work 145 

Tyndall's Theory : 147 

Disputed 148 

" " Wonderful Instinct of Bees in 

Building 127 

Honey-Dew Emitted by Aphides 23,149 

" ' " Manna 149 

" " On Basswood Leaves 149 

" " Produced by Bark-Lico 149 

" Remarks 149 

'• " The Exudation Theory 149 

Honey Candied (See candied honey) 49 

Clover, White 52 

" Confectionery . 49 

" Evaporation of 279 

" Extracted (See extracted honey) 84 

" Flavored with Onion 85 

" For Wintering (See wintering) 292 

" In Barrels 29 

" In Tin Cans 29 

" New 279 

M Qf Hymettus 227 



INDEX 



" Poisonous 

" Sealing- Up 

" (See comb honey) 

To Tell When the Yield 

" Why Secreted in Flowers 187 

Honey-Plants, a Garden of 2:28 

House-Apiary 15 

" " Advantages of 17 

" " Arranged Hexagonally Around a 

Large Central Apiary 17 

" Description of Our Own 16 

" " Entrances 83 

" " Extracting in 17 

" Help for Spring Dwindling 303 

" Mice in 83 

" " Objections to 15,18 

" " Protection from Thieves 17,18 

" Shape of 16 

" " Should Have few Corners 16 

" Upper Story of ...17 

" Very Old Idea 15 

" " Wintering in 300 

Huber's Experiment 197 

Hunting Bees, Bait for 33 

" Box, How to Use.... 33 

" " Brimstoniug 35 

" " Capturing the Swarm 34 

" " Climbers 35 

" Climbing Trees 35 

" Cross Lines 34 

" Does it Pay 36 

" In Vicinity of Large Apiaries. . .32, 36 

" " Never Quarrel About Bee-Trees 36 

" Oil of Anise 34 

" Smudge, Use of 34 

" Spy-Glass for 34 

" " Starting a line 33 

" " To Determine Distance from Swarm. 33 

" Tools for 35 

" Trespassing 36 

Hunting for Queen 155 

Humbugs and Swindles 233 

Hybrids, Cross Between Blacks and Italians 134 

Equal to Italians as Honey Gatherers 134 

Sometimes Best to Keep 160 

Storing Above 45 

Their Value 153 

Vindictive Temper of, Extraordinary. . .153 

Hymettus, Honey of 227 

Imagination, Its Relation to Stings 239 

Implements for Cutting Foundation 55 

" Hiving Swarms 25:.', 253 

" " " " Repository for .. .252 

" " Hunting Bees 33,35 

" Soldering 234 

" " Transferring 267 

Introducing Queens, Balling 157 

" " Caging 157 

" " Caution ..157 

" " Daubing with Honey 157 

" " HowtojHandle the Queen... 155 
" " Spraying with Scented Wa- 
ter, &c 157 

Sure Way of 157 

" " Releasing- 156 

" " Removing Old Queen 155 

" Virgin 157,168 

Italians, Color of Imported 158 

Cool Temper of 153 

" Courage of in Attacking Robbers 153 

" Discussion of Their Superiority at an End. 157 

" Disputed Ground 157 

Docility of 244 

" Importance of Pure Stock 157 

" Longevity of Compared with Blacks 1 

Looks and Color 1£8 

" Markings of 159 

" Three Yellow Bands 159 

Storing Below 42 

Superiority Compared with H.\ brio's 134 

Why they Dwindle More than the Blacks. 285 

Keeping Bees in Upper Rooms or Garrets ..257 

Keeping Bees in Upper Rooms or Garrets, Objec- 
tions to 257 

Killing Bees while Handling 305 

King- Birds 105 

" Eating Bees a 165 

" " Squeezing Out the Honey 165 

Lamp Nursery 167 

Constructed First by F. R. Shaw . . . 167 

How to Use 167 

Keeping up an Even Temperature. 167 

Moths in 38 

My improvement 167 

Queens Tearing Down Cells 168 



" " Removing Queens from, at Even- 
ing and Morning 168 

" " To Avoid Having Any Worker- 
Bees in 168 

To Get Cells for 167 

Langstroth Frame (See Glossary— Hives) 178 

Hive " " " 6 

" Portico of 6 

" Simplicity 120 

Larvae 39 

" Comb Containing, in Hive with Virgin 

Queen .199 

" Comb Containing, in Hive with Virgin 
Queen Answering a Three-fold Pur- 
pose 190 

" Immature, Why Found at the Entrance 38 

" Of Drones, When Exposed, an Incentive to 

Anger 221 

" Queens from Worker 195 

Laying, How to Induce 10 J 

Linden (see basswood) 31 

Location, Choice of for Apiary 11 

Locust, A Weil-Known Tree 170 

" Not to be Depended Upon as a Honey Pro- 
ducer 170 

Loss of Queen, Causes 20f 

To Determine 207 

" of Wings Causes Death of Workers 28 J 

Lumber For Hives, Requisites 114 

" " To Prevent Warping 115 

Whitewood 290 

Manna, Pollen from Some Tree 133 

Marketing Comb Honey (See Crates for Honey) 61 

Markings of Italian Bees 159 

Mat for Covering Frames 128 

Mathematics of the Honey-Comb 144 

A Famous Problem 144 

" Angles of Structure 144 

" Kcenig and Maclaurin's Problem 144 

Metal Corners, Their Use 127, 192 

" Rabbet, Its Use 127, 192 

Mice 81 

" In Hives b3 

" " House-Apiary 83 

Mignonnette 171 

Milkweed Destructive to Bees 171 

Why Celebrated 171 

Mitchell, N. (J., (See Adair Hive in Glossary) 

Mixing of Bees in Different Hives 160 

Moth and Moth- Worms (See beiI-moth) 36 

Motherwort 171 

Moving Bees, Caution Against Smothering 173 

" " During Working-Season 172 

" Getting- All in the. Hive 174 

" "In Artificial Swarming 25 

" " In Spring 173 

" " In Wagon or Buggy 173 

" Killed! 174 

" " Long Distances 173 

" " Loss by, in Floating Apiary 18 

" " Near Together in Winter 172 

" " Northward to strike Basswood or 

Clover-Bloom 19 

" " Placing in Position 174 

" " Putting in Cellar 173 

" " Results in Many Mishaps 172 

" " Securing Combs 156 

" " Shipping 173 

" " Success in Moving Whole Apiaries. .172 

" " Supply of Stores 173 

"To New Location, One Hive at First. 27 

" " Unnecessarily 157 

" Ventilation 156 

Mustard 25, 174 

Chiuese 174 

" Cultivation of 174 

" Quality of Honey 174 

Nailing Hives 1 19, 129 

Nectar in Wild Touch-me-not 187 

" Not Secreted till Pollen is Ripe 187 

Why Secreted in Flowers 187 

Neighbors' Bees 158 

New Idea Hive (See Hives in Glossary) 

New Swarms (See Sw.-a-ms and Swarming) 249 

Nuclei, Definition 177 

Division-Boards for 179 

Nuclei For Queen-Hearing 209-2C9 

How Small They May Be 177 

" L. or Gallup Frame ? 177 

" Number of Combs in 177 

" Queens Leaving 177 

" Shape of Hive 177 

Shipping 179, 191 

" Three-Frame Hive for Shipping 179 

Number of Bees in a Quart 177 



INDEX. 



Odor of Laying Queen 207, 258 

Oiling Machinery 116, 122 

Packing Sections in the Flat 132 

Paint, Chemical 129 

Color for Hives 129 

" Frequent Applications 129 

" Pure Lead 129 

■' Smell 129 

Painting Hives 128 

Preparing Hives for 129 

Parafflne for Fdn 54,287 

" " Waxing Barrels 29 

Parasites 81 

Pasturage, Artificial 24 

Wild 36 

ratent-Right Venders 37, 81, 82, 217, 272 

Pennyroyal 228 

Peet's lntroducing-Cage 47, 195 

Plank Used for Section Boxes 133 

Planer, Cigar-Box, for Sections 13L 

Gem 131 

Play-Spell of Young Bees 223 

Pleasure Resulting from Work Well Done 130 

Poisonous Honey, Statement from Dr. Grammer.182 

Pollen, Agencv of Bees in Fertilizing Plants 186 

Animal Food Used for 185, U6 

Artificial Substitutes 185 

Bee's Adaptations for Collecting 18a 

Effect of, on Confined Bees 184 

" from Maple and Corn 184 

" Sawdust, &c 185 

How carried from Plant to Plant 187 

in Comb, Attracts Moths 37 

" Section Boxes 196 

Method of Gathering 183 

" Necessity of 184 

" a Provision of Nature 187 

" Remarks Upon 18a 

" Setting to Work on Artificial 189 

Storing 185 

Portico, Cost of 191 

Detachable 191 

Its Use 191 

" Disadvantages of 6 

Press for Wax, Gary's 286 

Prevention of Swarming 250, 255 

Propolis, A Great Hindrance 192 

Do Bees need it? Theory and Practice. 193 

How Gathered 183 

" Its Source Uncertain 191 

" Use 191 

Mixed with Wax 192 

Paint to Keep it Off ., 192 

" To Keep from Surplus Boxes 192 

" To Remove from Fingers 192 

Value of 193 

Pure Stock, Importance of 157 

Queen-Cages (See cages for queens) 47 

How to Put in Cage 213 

" Laying Two Kinds of Eggs 205 

" Noise Made by, in Swarming 259 

" Number and Kind of Bees to Accompany 

in Transportation 43 

" Register 211 

" Stand 243 

" Sting of 208 

" Yard 256 

Queen-Cells 196 

" " Caution 210 

" " Cutting Out to Prevent Swarming 256 

" " Destroyed by Young Queens.... 26, 27, 198 

" Good Ones, How to Procure 210 

" " How to Insert 22, 209 

" " Large Number of 26 

" " Pleasing Experiment with 197 

" Raised in Strong Colony 209 

" To Tell When They Will Hatch 196 

" When and How to Cut Out 26, 210 

Queenless Colonies, Caution 207 

To Detect 155, 156, 207, 208 

Queens, Age of 5 

" " " Larvas To Produce 196 

" " " On Beginning to Lay 202 

" A merchantable Product 190 

" An Unproven Theory 72 

Caging Young 198 

" Caution in Regard to Killing 155 

" Change in Appearance on Beginning to 

Lay : 202 

Clipping Wings of 2,3,204 

" " " " Danger of Loss in 2 

" Daily Number of Eggs Laid by 207 

Dollar 208 

" Drone-Laying 72 

" Eggs of, Compared with Those of Poultry . 72 



Queens, Eggs of, Fertilized and Unfertilized 72 

" Phenomenon Regarding 72 

Fertilization of 203 

" " " Bumble Bee 71 

" " " In Confinement 71 

From Hives that Have Spring Dwindling 

as Good as Any 305 

From Italy 158 

" " Lamp Nursery 168 

Handling 49,165,207 

Having an Assistant 5 

" How Produced from Worker-Eggs 195 

" Imperfectly Developed 195 

" Importance of 195 

"Pure Stock in 158 

" Introduction of. Different Methods 157 

Of Virgin 157 

Loss of 207 

" "To Determine 207 

Longevity of * 188 

Meeting Drones On the Wing 71,203 

" Memory of 198 

Mutilation of Drones on Meeting 203 

Occupation of, While Sealed up 197 

Odor of 207 

On Leaving Cells 199 

" Produced from Drone-Larva?, A Failure. 196 
" " " " " Distinction 

of Cells 196 

" Query concerning 75 

Rearing (See Rearing Queens) 209 

Rivalry of 198 

" Several in One Swarm 4 

" Tendency of Bees to Rear 196 

" to Find and Remove Old 155 

" Prevent Death of 25 

Transposition Process 197 

Two in One Hive. 199 

" " on Same Comb 199 

Virgin 168, 199 

" Introducing 157,168,169 

Voices of 199 

" » u Produced Bv Wings 199 

Wedding-Flight, When Taken 201 

What Kind to Rear 129 

" " to do with when Two Weeks Old 

and do not Lay 204 

What to Do with When Uniting 271 

Wingless 195 

Wings of, Imperfectly Developed, to Test.204 

Quinby's Hive (See Glossary— Hives) 286, 297, 298 

Queen-Yard 256 

Rag Weed and Corn 186, 189 

Rail-Road Apiary, Description of 18 

Raising Seed 174 

Rampage, Bees on a 221 

Rap e 215 

" Cultivation 215 

" Importance of 215 

Raspberry 215 

Ratan 215 

Rearing Drones 74 

Rearing Queens 26 

All from One Queen 158 

Caution 212 

Dollar 208 

" " Feeding for the Purpose.of 103 

" " Good Wages Made by.. .'. 211 

" " Grape Sugar for 88 

How to Send Larvae for 209 

" " Improving Stock 129 

" " Preserving Drones for Late 75 

Queen-Cells (See Queen-Cells) ...195 

Report on Spring Dwindling 303 

Repositories for Wintering 300 

" Preparing Stocks for.. 301 

" " " (See wintering) ...291 

" " " Ventilating 301 

Rhombic Dodecahedron 145 

Ringing Bells, &c, to Bring Down Swarms 259 

Robbing— Beware ! 102 

" Breaking Combs 220 

Care of Combs Outside of Hive 37, 38, 305 

Cause of the Disposition 216 

Caution 222 

" Changing Colonies 220 

Closing Hive 219 

" Colonies that Make no Defense 218 

During Plentiful Flow of Honey 217 

Spring Dwindling 306 

Effect of, if not Stopped 220 

" Entrances Contracted 218 

" Exchange of Combs 220 

" Getting Robbers Out of the Hive, Caution.219 
" Great Discovery 222 



INDEX 



Robbing, How to Stop 218 

" Inducing- 32 

Italians 218, 221 

" Manner of 206 

" Means of Escape 206 

Prevention of 221, 306 

Sense of Smell 216 

" Stinging- When 217 

To Distinguish Robbers 218 

" Weak Swarms 216 

" Where Robbers Belong- 218 

" While Uniting- 271 

" Working- by Lamp-Light to Prevent 222 

" " " Moonlig-ht 222 

Rockv Mountain Bee-Plant 224 

Royal Cells (See Queen-Cells) 196 

" Jelly 196 

Rustic Chaff-Hive, Clark's .179 

Rye Flour, a Substitute for Pollen 185 

" Setting Bees to Work on 189 

Sage 227 

" California White 227 

'■ Honey, Large Yields of 227 

" " " " Never Candies 227 

" " " " Quality of 227 

Sagging of Foundation 56 

Salt Water for Bees 283 

Salycilic Acid 106 

Saws Barnes Bros' 114, 115 

" Foot Power, How to Usell4, 115, 134 

" Compared with Cutter Head 133 

" Cost of 133 

" Cross-cut, How Filed and Set 135 

" Gang 133 

" Oiling 134 

" Putting in Order, All About It 133-136 

" Shape and Angle of Teeth 135 

' Sharpening- Without Set 133 

" The Size We Use ,. 133 

Scales 101 

Scent of Bees 216 

Section Honey Boxes, All About Making, One 

Pound 119-132 

" " " Clamps for Making 131 

Complete 132 

" " " Counting, Mistakes in, 

HowtoAvoid 132 

" " " Grooving 131 

" " " Having Them Filled in the 

Fall 102 

Home-Made 137 

How to Handle 60 

" " Use With Tin Sep- 
arators 59 

" " " In Upper and Lower Sto- 
ries 128 

" " " Machine for Making. ..137, 141 

Of Berry-Box Veneer 136 

" " " One lb., Recommended 60 

" Stuff For 130 

" " " Size of , for L. Frame 55 

Taking Out of Hive 128 

" " " To Induce Working in 251 

" " " " Keep Propolis From... 192 

" " What Boards to Use 131 

" " Width of Sides, Top and 

Bottom 132 

Seed Raising 174, 115 

Separators Tin, Always Use with Sections 59 

Setting Saws, Angle of Teeth 136 

" Philosophy of 135 

" Setfor 136 

Shade Better than Holes for Ventilation 275 

(See Grape Vines) 12 

Shipping Bees, Preparation for 173, 209 

Simplicity Comb Holder 243, 244 

Feeder (See Feeders) 100 

Hive 114 

" •• How To Make (See Hives) 114 

L. Hive 120 

Smoker (See Smokers) 230 

Simpson Honey Plant 104 

• (See Figwort) 103 

Size of Cells 144, 145 

Skunks 81 

Smoke, Not Always a Preventive of Stings 246 

Use of, in Uniting Bees 272 

WhentoUse 242 

Smokers, Bingham's 229 

Clark's Cold Blast 232 

Corey's ■• ■• 232 

Cold Blast How to Make 230 

Cost of 233 

Fuel for 229 

Keep in Good Trim 32 



Smokers, Quinby's 229 

Simplicity 232 

Cold Blast 232 

Their Use 328 

Townley' s 229 

When to Use 242 

Smothering Bees when Moving 173 

Soldering 233 

Fluid for 234 

Implements for 234 

Sourwood 235 

Description of by J. W. Shearer 235 

Spider Flower, Description of 226 

Spiders 81 

Spring Dwindling 68, 296, 298 

BuildingUp 305 

Care of Combs from Dead 

Swarms 306 

Cure for 68,305 

Loss Immense 305 

Report of '78 302 

What Becomes of the Bees 305 

What Causes 303 

What to Do When Your Bees 

Getto £04 

Square, How to Test Accuracy of 129 

Standing in Front of Hives 241 

Stinging Caused bv Pressure of Clothing 32, 244 

Does it Kill the Bee? 246 

" How Done 245 

Stings, Compared with Apparatus L T sed by Other 

Insects for Boring- into Bark, etc 248 

" Effects of 241 

" Gloves 32 

" Great Number of at Once 241 

" Hardened io the Effects of 241 

• " How to Remove 241 

" Magnified 247 

" Mechanical Construction of 246 

" My Remedy 240 

" Odor of 245 

" Of Queens 208 

" Poison of 245 

" Remedies Discussed 240 

" Severity of 239, 244 

" Smoke not Alwavs a Preventive 246 

" To Avoid 32, 2i6, 241 

Stock, Importation of, Purity in 158 

Improving 129 

Stores Needed (See wintering) 292 

Straw Hives 294 

• • Mats 294 

- ' Packing 294 

Suffocation 173, 2i9, 275 

Sugar, For Candy 54 

" Wintering 76 

(See CANDY, FEEDING, WINTERING and 
GRAPE SUGAR.) 

Sumac 248 

Sun Flower 249 

Support for Frame 59, 243 

Surplus Honey (see comb honey, extracted 

HONEY and SECTION BOXES.) 

Swarming 249-262 

After 3-5 

Apparatus for 252, 233, 254 

"Repository 252 

Artificial 25 

Automatic 258 

Bees Gorged with Honey When 252, 276 

Cause of 249 

Choice of Location Before 257 

Does the Queen Start First V 249 

Fever 257 

From Upper Rooms and Garrets 257 

Machine for Automatic 258 

Means Employed for Reproduction 232 

Natural, and Its Attendant Clustering. . .260 

On Sunday 251 

Preparations for 1, 251 

Prevention of 252, 255, 256 

"by Cutting out Queen Cells:, 1 ,"!', 

Swarming Prevention of by Use of Extractor 257 

Season of 250 

" Symptoms of 25:1 

" Two or More Together 255 

" " " " How to Separate.. 255 

Swarms, Apparatus for Catching 252, 253 

" Hiving-, yhepard's 25-.' 

Bringing Down by Kinging- Bells, &c 259 

" Carrying on Limbs of Tree 254 

Hiving by Machinery 254 

How to Hive. . . : 253 

If Queenless Sometimes Unite with Others. 2 
Instinctively Seek the Forest l 



IND.EX. 



" Selection of Tree Before Swarming 1, 257 

To Separate When Two or More Unite.. 255 

Two or More Uniting- in One 255 

Uniting 271 

Mew 272 

Usually Cluster Before Leaving I 

Value lit' (Poetical) 250 

Teasel, Cultivation of 264 

Description of, by CM. Doolittle 26+ 

Testing a Square 129 

Value of Honey-Plants 25 

Thieves and Patent-Right Verniers (See Patent 

Bight Venders) 82 

Three-Frame Nucleus Hive i7'.> 

Time Required by Bees in Hatching 39, 168, 195 

Tinkering with Bees Unnecessarily 296 

Toads Eating Pees 265 

Tools, Keep Sharp 13U 

" (See implements) 

Touch-Me-Not, Wild 188, 189 

Transferring, Appliances for 267 

Drumming Out 26S 

How to Proceed 266 

Implements Needed 265 

" In Fruit-Bloom II. 7 

" Preparations for 265 

Price for 268 

Success of Inexperienced Apiarists ,2'i8 

What Amount of Comb to Save 267 

" Length of Time Required 868 

When to Do 266 

Who Can Do It 265 

Woman's Work 265 

Transposition Process 197 

Trespassing For Wild Pees 36 

Tulip-Tree (See Whitew 1) 291 

Turnip, Attractive to Hoes 269 

Cultivation of 269 

Enemy of 269 

Seven-Top 269 

(Tsed-for Greens 269 

Two-Frame Nucleus Hive (see next page) 209 

Tyndall's Theory of the Structure of tomb, Dis- 
puted 145 

Uniting In Spring- 272,305 

New Swarms 272 

Trouble from Bobbers 27 1 

" Two Large Swarms 271 

When to Unite 272 

Valentine's Queen Stand 243 

Veils 32, 275 

Ifees inside of 275 

" Brussels Net 274 

" Improvements 274 

" Injurious to Eyes 275 

" Obstruction to Vision 274 

" Tarlatan 274 

" When Transferring 266 

" Wire Cloth 274 

Ventilation 173, 219, 275 

Effects of Draft 276 

How Produced by Bees 293 

In Spring 296 

Its Relation to Dampness and Frost. . .293 

of Cellars 301 

of Queen-Cages I hiring Shipment 277 

" When Beady to Swarm 276 

When Shipping 173-276 

Vinegar, A Product of Honey 277 

Letter from R. R. Murphy 277 

" G.W.Gates 277 

Vineyard Apiary (See last pages) 

Directions for Starting 12-14 

Virgin Queens (See Queens) 168, 19.) 

to Introduce 157,168 

" Letter from L. L. Lang- 

stroth 169 

Wabbling Saws, How to Use U8 

Warping of Lumber, to Prevent 115 

Wasps 82 

Water for Bees, Amount Needed 279 

Water tor Bees, Need ot 279 

' New Honey a Substitute 279 

" Salt 283 

Watering Bees By Means of Fountain 28i 

" Experiments in 283 

" Jar for 280,281 

Wax, Adulteration of 268, 290 

"to Detect 268,290 

Article of Foreign Commerce 289 



" Bleaching 284, 288, 289 

By Use of Acids 289 

In the Sun 290 

" Cleaning from Utensils 287 

Exportations from Different Countries 289 

Extract from A. B.J. on 288 

Extractor 284 

Described by A.Grimm 284 

How to Use 285 

In >m ( )ther Insects 289 

" Vegetables 289 

Made by Bees 283 

Melting Point of 2fc8 

Press, Cary's 2E6 

Provision of Nature 284 

Rendering in Conical Vessel without Strain- 
ing 285 

Rendering in Kettle 284 

OurWayof 286 

" Specific Gravity of 288 

Specimen from Ceylon 28!) 

" To Improve the Article of Commerce 289 

" Use ot Different Kinds 289 

White, Composition of 289 

" Yellow or White for Fdn? 284 

Weak Swarms 2i7 

What Bees Sting- Worst 244 

When You Will Not be Wanted in This World . . 288 
White Clover (see Clover) 

Whitewood or Tulip or Poplar '.90,291 

As an Ornamental Tree. . .291 

Flower of 290 

" Honey of 29 1 

" Lumber for Hives and Honey Boxes .291 

Wicked Hybrids '58 

Wide Frames for Sections 128 

Above and Below 128 

Number in the Hive 128 

Wedging Up 128 

Wild Bees (see Hunting Pees) 32 

Wings, Loss of. Cause ot Death 280 

Wintering Amount of Honey Needed 97, 292, 302 

Chaff Cushion for 295 

" " Cushion Division-Boards 64 

" For Out-Door Packing 296 

" Packing, Success of 2u8 

" Use of in 29J 

Effect of Different Kinds of Food. 291 

Cutting Winter-passages in the Combs. 307 

Flight During Winter 30J 

Good Queens for 293 

" In Cellars or Bepositories 3C0 

Advantages of "00 

Number in One Room 292 

Removing from 292 

" Returning to Summer Stand. 292 

" See Cellars 300 

" " " Temperature of 292 

" When to Put In 302 

" '• Take Out 302 

Main Points 293 

On Late Honey 293 

" Size of Apartment .293 

" " Colony , 293 

" " "Entrance 291 

" Size and Shapes of Frames for. .. -293 

Spring Dwindling 303 

" '• " Cure for 305 

" Starving on Late Honey 233 

" Summing up 303 

" Ventilation, Its Relation to Frost and 

Dampness 293 

Weak Stocks 293 

When to Prepare for 292 

Why Hives Become Damp 893 

Wired Frames for Foundation 57 

Wire Cloth (See Ventilation, Queen Cages, etc.) 47, 274 

Work Carefully 129 

Economy of 133 

Worker Bees, Fertilization of, Impossible 112 

•' Laying 73,1(2 

" Legsof 183 

" SizesofCells 144 

" Small and Large 130 

" To Keep from Lamp Nursery 167 

Worker Eggs Made to Produce Queens 195 

" " (See Bees, Eggs, Rearing Queens, etc.) 

Yield of Honey, Large 298 

I Young's Easel to Hold Combs 243 






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